MovieChat Forums > American Honey (2016) Discussion > the 3 Cowboys/Spoilers

the 3 Cowboys/Spoilers

posted 8 years ago by trfruin
14 replies | jump to latest

a bit over long but I did like this film giving us a slice of life we rarely ever seen before/ The one unrealistic part or gab hole was when Jake breaks up the party at the swimming pool, threatens the dudes with the cowboy hats and proceeds to steal their convertible, and nothing was reported to the police.
I'm sure the reply will be that those cowboys had plans to rape or have sex with a minor, but that was never shown(or at least can never be proven guilty) the only thing they did wrong was serve alcohol to a minor. They looked wealthy, and would of had the local sheriff of the small community in their pockets. Later on I believe Krystal was driving the very same convertible

That part sort of ruined the authenticity for the rest of the film

[–] brookiniscool 8 years ago

Think he got jealous, that was my take.

[–] herpaderp-49056 8 years ago

Agree that they shoulda at least shown them ditching the car. I think they genuinely liked Star and didn't want to get her in trouble with the cops. As long as they got the car back, they would let it go. Or if they were really wealthy, maybe they didn't care about the car.

[–] thelaserguy 8 years ago

How is she a minor? She says she's 18. Is that illegal in your own home? I know the USA has 21 as the limit to buy in pubs but is that true in a private residence as well?

[–] Mstreselena 8 years ago

Serving alcohol to ANYONE under the age of 21 is illegal in the United States. Getting her drunk and having sex with her would be considered rape since she no longer had the capacity to consent since they gave her alcohol. Being considerably older than her makes them look really bad, but as a previous poster said, they probably owned the local law.

True story -- Several years back, as their child was graduating from high school the two parents told their child that he/she and any friends could have a party and if anyone brought alcohol that it would be okay. The parents did not provide alcohol but they didn't stop anyone that brought it. Word got out and they were arrested because they allowed 18 year olds to drink in their home. They thought they were being responsible and keeping an eye that no one drank too much and that no one was put at risk. They would have been better off allowing the kids to go out and drink in an abandoned warehouse.

[–] riversideriverside 8 years ago

Jake drives the stolen car to the motel the magazine crew was staying at currently. He puts the key on the sun visor. Not smart to park so close to where everyone was.

I thought the car Krystal drove later was different. Maybe not. Though it did seem smaller.

[–] uhrdavid 8 years ago

How can you be so sure that they didn't file a police report. I think it was pretty clear that they were trying to get her drunk and take advantage of her, but I doubt that would have stopped them from filing a report about their stolen car. We only have the perspective of the kids, so we don't know at all if the police were notified.

They were driving a convertible from the very beginning of the movie. I would have to go back and look to be 100% certain that the car they were driving later in the movie was NOT the one belonging to the cowboys, but I do not think this is the case. I think we see Star and Jake ditch the car.

"We are here to help the Vietnamese, bc inside every *beep* there is an American trying to get out"

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 8 years ago

I don't think they were going to rape her. That is usually how most movie plots go, when any older men pick up a young girl, so we are expecting that to happen, but I think the movie was playing with those tropes a little bit. Whenever she went off with some guy you expected she would get raped or beaten or killed, but they were all decent to her. Even the one guy who paid for a hand job from her, he wasn't abusive, didn't do anything without asking her first, he was like the most polite john ever. (I don't know how realistic that part was!)

She seemed to live in this charmed bubble where bad things never happened, even though I was expecting so many bad things. I expected her to get raped multiple different times in the movie. I expected her to be forced to fight on loser's day. I expected her to get dumped in the desert somewhere for not selling. I even expected some harm to come to the animals on the van (the dog or the flying squirrel) . I expected many kinds of tragedies that never happened.
The stepfather back home (or whoever that guy was) was obviously molesting her for years, but I don't think the cowboys were going to do anything bad.

[–] LeroyRobinson (11) 7 years ago

I kept waiting for that too. Glad they avoided it though.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] T-Sour 8 years ago

What was the alcohol they served her with the worm called ?

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 8 years ago

Mezcal
It's made from agave , similar to Tequila but not exactly the same.

[–] AtomicReturns (1252) 8 years ago

Not going to lie, the 3 cowboys were way more entertaining to watch. We saw the grunge sector of this world, now we were seeing the Kansas high life we seldom get to see in movies. But when Shia showed up and cut that scene short, I was like "Darn, I wanted a break from this guy!"

I didn't like Shia's character, but it could be some of my real life Shia dislike leaking through.

Not going to lie. Shia wasn't even that good looking or charismatic for Star to fall in love with.

[–] pelosfx (140) 8 years ago

Car Krystal was driving was not that one, hers was a fourth generation Mustang and the stolen one was much older

[–] PhatButtttBear42 (143) 6 years ago

Correct.