Well, this could have been more intelligent, but it remains an average tale. It getting 5 Oscar nominations kind of proved the point it made. The satire landed well. It is well written and well-acted, but for a Oscar film, I expected more.
This is a life story of Monk, a talented but not-so-popular black writer. He wants to be recognised as a writer and not a black writer. For some reason, all his works fail to rise above the African-American tag. Out of frustration he writers a 'black' novel under a pen name which becomes famous overnight.
We see the struggle Monk faces, we also see the situations where he has to cash in the cheque even if he disdains the way he has earned it.
The first half is entertaining and speedy. But the second half drags a bit. The talented and quick-witted writing slowly loses its grip. The ending also feels a bit escapist. It tries to go above and beyond by deliberately avoiding exposition, but that did not land very well with me. I long for well-written screenplays, this could be it, but did not reach that mark.
I suppose, I might need one more watch to appreciate this, but let me know what you liked best about this if you have seen it and liked it.
Review by SolBlockedParent2024-04-15T18:04:02Z
Well, this could have been more intelligent, but it remains an average tale. It getting 5 Oscar nominations kind of proved the point it made. The satire landed well. It is well written and well-acted, but for a Oscar film, I expected more.
This is a life story of Monk, a talented but not-so-popular black writer. He wants to be recognised as a writer and not a black writer. For some reason, all his works fail to rise above the African-American tag. Out of frustration he writers a 'black' novel under a pen name which becomes famous overnight.
We see the struggle Monk faces, we also see the situations where he has to cash in the cheque even if he disdains the way he has earned it.
The first half is entertaining and speedy. But the second half drags a bit. The talented and quick-witted writing slowly loses its grip. The ending also feels a bit escapist. It tries to go above and beyond by deliberately avoiding exposition, but that did not land very well with me. I long for well-written screenplays, this could be it, but did not reach that mark.
I suppose, I might need one more watch to appreciate this, but let me know what you liked best about this if you have seen it and liked it.