Time: 117 Minutes
Cast:
Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Thelonious “Monk” Ellison
Tracee Ellis Ross as Dr. Lisa Ellison
Issa Rae as Sintara Golden
Sterling K. Brown as Dr. Clifford “Cliff” Ellison
John Ortiz as Arthur
Erika Alexander as Coraline
Leslie Uggams as Agnes Ellison
Adam Brody as Wiley
Director: Cord Jefferson

American Fiction was one of the awards movies that I had been meaning to get to for a little while. It’s the last Best Picture nominee that I had left to watch, but days before the Oscars, I’m finally getting to it now. The concept already had me on board, especially with actors like Jeffrey Wright involved. Overall, I thought it was quite good.

As shown in the trailers, American Fiction is a satirical dramedy about how black stories are told and mainly consumed by white audiences, and about the kinds of black stories that get attention. The script from director Cord Jefferson adapting the novel titled Erasure was quite good. The satire is on point and witty, even if there are times where it could’ve gone further thematically. The plotline with the meta writing world was enjoyable and is the main source of the social commentary. It’s very funny when Jeffrey Wright’s protagonist of Monk gets very deep with his deception in writing a fake book out of frustration, and then finds himself having to pretend to be the fake author when it becomes a success. What a lot of people won’t expect (especially those who have watched the trailers) is the surprising amount of heartfelt drama and depth, as there is a decent amount of the movie focussing on Monk’s family and the trauma from within that family. From reading some reactions, not everyone was into it, but I was invested in this plotline, and I felt that the performances made it work. That said, these two very different plotlines don’t exactly reconcile together in a seamless way, and so much of the movie can feel a little uneven as it jumps between the two. The ending is also a little out of place, but I was fine with it overall.

While the writing is pretty good, it’s really enhanced by the amazing acting. Jeffrey Wright gets to star in a rare lead role for him which makes the most of talents. He is fantastic in his career best performance as a frustrated writer, handling both the comedy and the drama excellently.  Sterling K. Brown, Myra Lecretia Taylor and Issa Rae are great, with Brown particularly being a scene stealer. Other actors like John Ortiz and Adam Brody do well too, especially with the comedy.

Cord Jefferson directs this, and you can sort of tell that it’s his debut feature film, with him previously working on TV. However, the direction is still pretty good overall. It isn’t the most visually interesting movie, but it is well shot nonetheless.

American Fiction is an entertaining, funny and well written satirical dramedy with incredible performances, especially from a career best Jeffrey Wright.