Two 2016 releases I've caught up with this week...
The BFG (Steven Spielberg, United States) - Like a stowaway from a more innocent era of children's films. Spielberg's latest has none of the frantic pacing, anachronistic brattiness or vulgar humor of your average kid-pic drivel. OK, there are a surprising number of fart jokes, but even those are painless; they're not a desperate grab for cheap laughs but actual jokes, with patient set-ups and silly punchlines. That patience is key to The BFG's charm. It doesn't rush through the spectacle, but soaks in the wonder of its young heroine catching dreams like multi-colored fireflies, or the absurdity of the titular gentle giant visiting Buckingham Palace and making its human-sized grandeur look like a dollhouse. The main attraction is the Big Friendly Giant himself. All-CGI characters usually leave me cold but he's an engaging exception, since very little of Mark Rylance's winsome charm has been lost in translation. The BFG may not be distinctive enough to become a new kids' movie classic, nor is it among Steven Spielberg's finest. But it is modest, lovely, and child-like, virtues that shouldn't be underestimated. Had it come out in the 90s, little-kid me would've loved it.
American Honey (Andrea Arnold, United States) - Not only is American Honey a road trip movie, watching it was like experiencing a road trip. Moments of spontaneous beauty flit by, but it's dreadfully long and I was relieved when it ended. No doubt, American Honey's lengthy aimlessness is intentional, as it reflects these kids' lives - they're going nowhere. Star, a bright teen with a wild streak, escapes her miserable home life to join a hard-partying crew of vagabonds, traveling across America in a van and selling magazine subscriptions. They're America's abandoned kids, the so-called "white trash" from neighborhoods devastated by meth and poverty, banding together and looking for freedom on the road. Director Andrea Arnold captures natural moments of camaraderie among the crew, from sing-alongs to drunken fights, and coaxes believable performances from a cast of nonprofessional actors. Even Shia LaBeouf, the only established Hollywood actor in the crew, blends in. Arnold has a good eye for the gorgeous expanses and grim detritus of middle America, and a good ear for music. The rap / country soundtrack fits the milieu and works in unison with the visuals. American Honey has the stuff to make a great movie but, frustratingly, it isn't one. Despite being 160 minutes long, it does not expand in meaning as it goes along. The characters remain half-sketched. The social commentary - the teens a microcosm of capitalism at its starkest, their American Dream not stretching beyond "make money, get turnt" - offers little insight. As an experiential, sensual immersion into a certain lifestyle, American Honey is occasionally exhilarating, but too monotonous to maintain interest over nearly three hours.
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