THE FILM
TITLE: American Fiction
RELEASE DATE: Dec 15, 2023
WATCH DATE: Feb 10, 2024
TYPE: live-action, feature-length film
ACCESS: movie theater
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: Cord Jefferson
PRODUCER: Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, Lenny Payan, Jermaine Johnson, Hannah Offer
ACTORS: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE STORY
RUNTIME: 117mins
STORYLINE: a black author writes a satire novel mocking what is accepted by mainly ‘white’ people as ‘black’ literature and releases it under a pen name, which sends him reeling as he tries to balance the sudden publicity with struggles in his personal family life
GENRE/THEMES: drama, satire, narrative, black culture, mockery, comedy, family themes
Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE CRITIQUE
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
A masterpiece of narrative for black culture. The film’s lighthearted, satirical mood paints serious racial problems in a way that perhaps everyone can understand. Let’s begin with the book in the story. As a black author, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffery Wright) is exasperated by the stereotypical “trash” that is ‘black literature’ and how the industry practically devours it, calling it “necessary” and “a breath of fresh air”. These books are about black culture in the inner city, gang violence, and low-income families… and for all the ‘white’ people care to know, that’s the extent of ‘black’ culture. To see a representation of one specific type of people representing an entire race as a whole… it’s revolting… maddening. So, as a stab at the industry, he writes a satire of the same stereotypical flavor under a pen name. It’s absolute garbage… and the publishers adore it. Point proven. Due to family struggles and lack of income, he ends up allowing the book to actually be released (he hasn’t released a new book in a couple of years). To make matters worse, the well-crafted novel he has written - representing a higher-end aspect of black culture - was cycled through more publishers than he could count. No one wanted to publish that kind of book about black people.
Comedic relief gets you slapping your knee as Monk now has to impersonate this fake identity that has written this ‘wildly successful novel’. The novel is on talk shows, studios want film rights, and the literature awards committee that Monk is a part of is now considering a prestigious award for this book. Designed to be a rouse, but the total backfiring is doing nothing short of proving his point. Real-life strikes again with the sudden loss of his sister, his mother’s oncoming dementia, and struggling to relate to his gay brother (Sterling K. Brown).
The platform of film is the perfect place to take Percival Everett’s book. The problem of poor - no, blatantly inaccurate racial representation is of course not confined to the book industry. It’s everywhere. In every industry. I would like to believe and hope that with some significant films in the last 5-7 years, some of this stereotypical representation has been revealed and rewritten. Marvel Studios and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sparked a massive movement to cast black culture in an entirely different light. Powerful. Influential. Idolized. Many of the successful films that have focused on black culture have told past stories of hard times - Hidden Figures, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and the 2024 Oscar-nominated films Rustin and The Color Purple. I look forward though to the future of the representation of black culture in a better light.
Fantastic acting from Wright, Brown, and the rest of the cast. They did not miss a beat. However, I felt Brown’s performance was overshadowed by those of his fellow nominees for Supporting Actor. I’m not sure that nomination was well-placed. The score is jazzy and groovy, lending itself to the comedy and satire of the film. It is an enjoyable listen as a stand-alone work - I recommend giving it a listen and adding it to your jazz playlist! (Or you can check out my jazz film playlist here!) It certainly has earned its place in the running for Best Picture. At the very least, it has caught the attention of the Academy, the critics, and the public to listen to its message.
There are multiple conclusions to the film (you just have to watch it to understand) - picturesque, overdramatic, or the same flavor as Monk’s satire book. We don’t really see how Monk’s story ends. American Fiction leaves us questioning how its own story will end, where it goes next… which is what the filmmakers want us to be thinking about the racial issues it presents. How does that story go? How does that story end? I’ll tell you - it’s up to all of us.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE RECEPTION
Academy Award for Picture
Academy Award for Original Score
Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Actor in a Leading Role (Jeffrey Wright)
Academy Award for Actor in a Supporting Role (Sterling K. Brown)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: breaking (as in breaking ground, or breaking status quo)
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: topic
REWATCH: yes, but only once or twice
RATING: 4 // 5 stars (read my review on Letterboxd)
Follow me on LETTERBOXD for film reviews, movie lists, and more!
Comments