American Fiction 2023

A witty, self-aware script, and Jeffrey Wright, at the centre of almost every scene, gives a fantastic performance portraying the emotions of a man who for much of the film is trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep a lid on his anger. The subject matter is interesting... and yet... it is really two interwoven films in one - a broad social satire and a family drama.

Unfortunately, while the family drama tries to pull the film in a serious direction and give it depth (I think the director really wants this to be the heart of the film), it disappoints me. Sterling Brown is great fun as a ne'er-do-well brother when he is playing for laughs, but the other family members and his new love interest, while acted competently, are given cliched roles I feel I have seen before. And in the end, while it takes a poke at race representation in film and books, I don't feel it really wrestles with the issues it raises, preferring to poke fun at the worst excesses.

I enjoyed the film throughout - it is certainly well worth watching - but I couldn't help wishing it went deep as well as broad in its social satire and hadn't tried also to show a little heart.

American Fiction is a fascinating movie that is both a lot more and a lot less than I was initially expecting. There are essentially two separate stories here, that while they do interact and influence each other, also feel distinct in a way where I feel they do not exactly complement/reflect each other as well as they could. The A plot is what the trailer heavily plays into, the idea of a black writer who plays into racial stereotypes to illustrate the absurdity of tokenization, only to then see himself become a bestseller. The B plot revolves around a surprisingly deep exploration of the same writer's personal relationships and ties to his family and close ones. The A plot brings the humor, with some excellent comedic moments, as well as thematic depth including some fairly open-ended but complex topics that left me thinking about the multitude of sides to the idea of identity and how it is reflected in media and literature. Despite feeling slightly open-ended, I feel the movie is a microcosm of the entire idea it is dissecting, and so I was okay with it leaving us feeling like there were no easy answers. The B plot, however, also feels like it never fully resolves some of the character arcs that were set up. And while I do understand the conceptual idea of there being no easy answers there either, I did feel a bit let down in that regard. Still, I was not expecting the character study aspect, and I found it a welcome surprise, even if I wish the A plot and it were more balanced (the B plot tends to dominate the movie in my opinion) and complementary. Sterling K. Brown's acting in particular deserves special attention because I found it incredible and honestly one of my favorites of 2023.

‘American Fiction’ is an original drama script that uses satire to speak of society. At least in American society. I don’t know if it would resonate as much with non-American audiences. Jeffrey Wright plays Monk Ellison, a college professor, who feels frustrated with white America's sense of guilt over history and pandering to ideas that perpetuate black stereotypes. Ellison, who is black, doesn’t see people for the color of their skin but for the content of their ideas. He writes novels using proper English and aspires to be considered a ‘great author’ rather than a ‘great Black author.’ However, he realizes the ideas that make money and get picked up by publishers are based not on actual good ideas. To mock the publishers and the system, he, under a pseudonym, writes a novel that uses every stereotype that people might have for black Americans. Ellison depicts himself as Stagg R. Leigh, a violent, drug-using, escaped convict from prison wanted for murder (every other stereotype you can think of), using street lingo in writing as a massive troll job. To his dismay, a publisher picks up the novel, not realizing the whole thing is satire and mockery. Monk’s agent convinces him to play along, even if it means going against everything he believes in. The rest of the film is him trying to grapple with reality and make sense of his worldview.

Acting, directing, witty writing, and cinematography are on point. The entire cast was likable, but Wright stole the show. It’s a very well-done film that uses satire to express points that people have difficulty talking about. I believe social commentary for serious subjects is best done using comedy, so people can better appreciate it rather than become alienated. I believe Monk feels that society should not use racism to fight racism, and I think it’s correct. Ideas should not be judged on race. The only way racism ends is by focusing on what MLK Jr. said: judge not on the color of one’s skin but the content of their character/ideas. The film dwells on other ideas, including depression, mental health, family drama, and sexual orientation. I don’t have the film rated higher because the ending felt like a cop-out. Perhaps ending it satisfyingly would be difficult. The pacing wasn’t always great either.

Would I recommend this? Yes, it’s worth watching. Some people may not get it, but I think there is depth in the ideas if you look.

8/10

Great movie!

This only solidifies my desire to view more, if not all, of Jeffrey Wright's filmography, such a fantastic actor to watch. In this he is no different, he is outstanding all the way through. Not that he is by any means the only strong performer, because Sterling K. Brown is also superb. Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Uggams impress, too.

There are a range of emotions to be felt throughout, the film entwines humour into events supremely well - it's much more amusing than I was expecting, especially given what happens early on. The latter is part of the sadness that constantly rears its head as well. No matter what, though, it is all seamlessly put together onscreen.

One scene in particular actually had me welling up, which is extremely rare for me; mentioned it before, unimportant long story short: I can't help but look at movies as fiction, so my brain just doesn't associate real physical emotions with films. Anyway, the scene is with Cliff (Brown) and Lorraine (Myra Lucretia Taylor). Proper touching!

Every now and then a film manages to break through! Probably a character flaw and all that but it is what it is. Fwiw, proof of the rarity is that the only other time I remember a film making me well up for real was, randomly, 2014's 'Two Days, One Night' a few years back with an (relatively) equally non-major scene with Timur Magomedgadzhiev. 2022's 'The Whale' did come very close, mind!

Back on track... I remember hearing positives about 'American Fiction' when it came out and thankfully it delivered; 'twas unfortunate that it didn't line-up with me to watch it at the cinema on release, though. But hey, I belatedly have it logged. A quality picture!

UGH.... The comments from people singing the film's and story's praises while still not getting it.

Even liberal white America trying so hard to look like they understand but still just pretending to. I gave it a 9 because I knew what these reviews would look like. There are always only two choices with the mass majority of white America. Liberal contrived "magnificent" or hate mongering hating on "woke".

JUST ONCE TRY TO SEE this is literally about how white America just pushes its view of minorities onto them and continuously pander to each other. Look how "unracist I am" while at that same time out of the other side of their face talking to the white racist "can we find common ground?". The common ground stays the same. Negative black stereotypes. Negative minority stereotypes.

The film is really good. The message is there are over 1/3 of black America that is educated. There is 2/3 of black America that isn't from the ghettos. So why is white America so hell bent on patting themselves on the back when they still say stupid shit like this only represents a "sliver" of the black American population? Because they're still racist as hell and refusing to admit it.

9/10. You would have to end this with Wesley Snipes pointing a gun at the audience and shooting at them, the screen going red, and they still wouldn't get it. 10 would be even one of the white idiots in the screen getting it, but of course that can't happen in white America.

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.

Film 106 (Goal: 300) of 2024

Not a giant review this time - which isn't a reflection on the quality of the film. American Fiction is a fantastic film from first time feature director and writer Cord Jefferson which takes a look at racial representation in today's media. I think this is going to be one of those films that will be overlooked initially before coming back to the zeitgeist due to it's topical subject. American Fiction focuses on how far are you willing to go, to appease the mass media. This is led by a strong performance from the always reliable Jeffrey Wright. Wright's character, Thelonious Monk is a talented but plateauing writer. Fed up with his position in life, after being told his writing isn't black enough, Monk decides to write a piece where his voice is turned up to 11. Originally conceived as a joke, he begins to find success and while keeping his pseudonym a secret, he begins to find more success as the media laps up his heightened characteristics.

It's a delicate topic yet Cord Jefferson writes and directs so that it's extremely accessible. The film never feels like a burden, and it's jazzy score underlines that there is a emotional depth and humour to all of this. Not sure how well the ending landed with me. While I understand the message behind the ending, I felt the film lost it's way slightly. A good portion of the film is spent around family, and while family drives Monk to do what he does, it at times feels like two different films.

That aside, American Fiction is an excellent first film from Cord Jefferson. He's going to be one to watch for the future.

This movie was possibly the most bland and boring thing I've seen this year. The main reason for that is the marketing that sells this as a 'biting satire'. It's not that. There is no satire in this movie, other than one character writing a satirical novel. That does not make the movie satirical. At most this movie is a boring melodramatic family dramedy, with comedy that feels like it's written for my grandparents. And that's fine! But don't sell your movie as a satire when it's not.

I sincerely fail to understand why this movie is getting all the acclaim and praise that it's gotten. All of the white critics on Rotten Tomatoes are fucking fawning over this thing, praising it for being 'witty', 'cerebral', and 'sharp'. It is objectively not any of those things! The most that this movie has to say is "Wow! Black people are a diverse group of people and they deserve that representation on screen, not the racial stereotypes our media contains." And that's a very good message! I fullheartedly agree with that! But that is also not a 'witty', 'cerebral', or 'sharp' message! It's not presented in an interesting way, and the writer and director have absolutely nothing interesting to say about it. The most they do is say "Haha look! A black man is profiting off of a book with false racial stereotypes that he made, and white people love it! Isn't that funny?" And like yeah that's a bit funny, but it gets tiring and old when that is the only fucking thing said in the entire movie. It gets old.

And again, I wholeheartedly agree with this message. I think it's great! I think that this kind of representation on screen is great and we need more of it. I understand that this content wasn't meant for me, and that other people like it more than me. But you cannot praise a movie for 'destroying racial stereotypes in media' when it has absolutely not fucking done that! You cannot praise it for its commentary when its commentary consists of a single note played over and over the entire movie! The movie does what has already been done before. The drama is boring and slow. The acting is incredibly subdued and just... okay. The comedy is written by people in their 60's. And it has no substance, nothing for you to learn, nothing for you to come away from the movie changed and be like "Wow, that felt worth my time!"

The movie's a Hallmark movie, point blank. And to see it getting promoted as an 'Oscars dark horse' makes me fucking angry when there are so many more movies this year that are worth your time and that don't squander the millions of dollars put into them on something with no style, no substance, and no purpose.

If the trailer is more interesting than your movie, you have a problem.

Skip this, wait till it comes out on a streaming service and then watch it, if you can.