#MovieReview: Telling funny truths in American Fiction
American Fiction has made lazy Sunday nights a lot more hilarious.
Oppenheimer was the big winner at the 2024 Academy Awards, but nine other films were deserved Best Picture nominees.
The Courier reviewed seven of those films over the past year, missing out on American Fiction and The Zone of Interest, neither of which played locally.
Both can now be rented via Amazon Prime and are expected to stream later this year.
American Fiction
American Fiction covers some challenging ground in its broad satirical strokes but never fails to be hilarious.
Written and directed by Cord Jefferson in his big-screen debut, the film did not go home empty-handed from the Oscars, claiming the Best Adapted Screenplay award.
It is based on Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure and, though I have not read the book, is clearly an excellent piece of writing.
American Fiction follows African-American academic and novelist, Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), whose challenging and unwieldy publications have failed to capture the public imagination.
They are critically praised but lack the commercial return that Monk secretly wants.
After seeing another novelist break through with books on the stereotypical African-American experience, Monk finally gives in.
He writes a book full of missing fathers, gangsterism and drugs, later submitting it to his publishers under a pseudonym.
The book is a hit, drawing praise from the publishers – who are mostly white – for its visceral accuracy and storytelling.
Monk has to decide whether to lean into the damaging stereotypes or unmask himself and risk losing out on the money and fame.
It might sound like a difficult watch, but American Fiction is light on its feet and one of the funniest movies of the year with a fantastic ensemble cast performance.
Wright is one of the most reliable actors around and finally has a meaty lead role to show off his chops, while Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae and Tracee Ellis Ross are excellent in their supporting parts.
This is not a heavy film showing overt racism in action, rather skewering the white liberal publishers who think they’re being progressive by platforming a black writer with a difficult upbringing.
But lip service progress is no progress at all.
Keep an eye out for my review on The Zone of Interest next week.
Rated 18 for Language and brief Drug Use, Violence and Sex.
4/5.
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