I am so glad to finally be able to have seen this movie. As a Black bibliophile and cinephile this movie taps into two lanes. A movie which is a direct satirical attack on institutionalized racism in the book publishing industry. It is also the story of a man from an upper-middle class New England family that has just about fallen-apart as he tries to get another lease on life and career.
American Fiction (2023) (and the novel it is based on) really hits at how white liberals are gate-keeping the depictions of African-Americans in contemporary literature (and cinema) and the harm that it does when we don't get to showcase the diversity of our stories. Parallel, or in the micro, our protagonist Thelonious "Monk" Ellison is a Black novelist who does not write about contemporary Black pathologies aka "hood" literature, but more intellectual, high-art and bourgie novels. He comes from a prosperous Black New England family that has grown apart and in-decline. And then things grow worse—leading to him making choices that help his career, but betrays his morals and ethics (but again—makes him a lot of money). This movie takes a quietly cynical, but clear-eyed and satirical look at some very down-to-earth realities that people deal with and it does not give any of the characters—save two—a truly happy ending.
All of the main and supporting cast are excellent! Jeffery Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Sterling K. Brown play the three siblings at the heart of the story flawlessly. Erika Alexander was the perfect love interest who was too good for Monk (and lawd—this woman is still as beautiful as she was on Living Single). I felt like Issa Rae was born to play her character similar to the character Beyoncé played in Dreamgirls (2006). Leslie Uggams seems to have moved into the character roles that Diahann Carroll used to play in her later years. This was a good film from Cord Jefferson and I am curious to see what he does next.
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