‘American Fiction’- Film Review: An Outstanding Satire with a Never Better Jeffery Wright

Something tells me that American Fiction will be a hot topic this awards season. Writer-director Cord Jefferson’s debut was screened at the Heartland International Film Festival in October, and it had to have been a late addition to an already strong lineup. I’d heard rumblings about it before, but it gained prominence after winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF a month before. I went into this practically blind because I hadn’t seen a trailer. MGM emailed me a screener two months later since I couldn’t concentrate on the initial viewing. With a clever satire on our hands, this is one of those films that improved from good to superb on repeat watching.

What’s the Story: Based on the 2001 Percival Everett novel “Erasure,” Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffery Wright) is an author who hasn’t had the greatest of luck selling his novels. Things don’t get better as a professor when he’s asked to take a leave of absence for his teaching methods on how we shouldn’t be offended by the realities of racism. But as an author, his latest won’t get picked up by any editors since they want “real black stories,” which Monk believes reduces seeing black people in a negative light. That comes into play once he hears an excerpt from the up-and-coming Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) best-seller “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto.” After tragedy struck him and his family, who are out of the loop for information, Monk believes his publishers only care about “raw” and “important” black stories, and it wouldn’t be tough to write one himself as a joke. Under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh, he writes “My Pafology,” a “black novel” about the struggles of growing up in the hood. Is it enough to make a point, or will it become a success that could backfire in Monk’s face?

Sometimes satire will go over my head, depending on who’s tackling it, to where it’ll take longer for me to get what a film or show is poking fun. From what Jefferson tried to tell its audience and Hollywood itself, American Fiction isn’t going to tell black trauma to be acclimated for the wrong reasons some aren’t seeing. Even for those who are writers out there, it’s almost relatable not having your most profound work recognized only to resort to writing trash to be hailed as a masterpiece. Coming from someone who loves a film about writers, this spoke for me.

For Monk, what we write with “My Pafology” is the stupidest piece of mindless work ever. Everyone else sees it as the next best thing in literature once it gets attention, especially when he’s impersonating a former convict who’s a fugitive. Taking some keys from Spike Lee except not as excessive, it’s a surprise knowing this is Jefferson’s first film as it provides the perfect amount of laugh-out-loud comedy that hits the commentary on the nose (a moment with changing the name of the book killed me) to the family drama that almost takes away from the central plot but enough to feel genuine to forgive it.

For years, I have always wanted to see Jeffery Wright be the leading man, and he’s been one of those actors almost everybody recognizes for the last few decades. He’d been fantastic in other Hollywood entertainment, such as last year’s The Batman and on television with Westworld. But his performance as Monk shows off his comedic and dramatic flair in the best role he’ll be most remembered for in his career. Wright gives this character this frustrating and grounded man envy of other’s success, only to dig a deeper hole he can’t get out of, especially when he’s keeping this newfound alias a secret, comprising his art in the process.

Nothing he did before this made me think it’s a strong awards contender, but he will be the one that will finally push him into the Best Actor race. And it’s wild how much it looks like Martin Thomas from Double Toasted. Fortunately, he has the support of the rest of the ensemble, which includes Sterling K. Brown as his gay brother Cliff, Leslie Uggams as Monk’s mother, who is suffering from the early stages of dementia, and lovely Erika Alexander, who provides some nice chemistry with Wright as Coraline while boosting his confidence.

Both times I’ve watched this, one issue still stands, and it might be how it wrapped up. Everything leading up to this made a hilarious and thought-provoking point with Monk dealing with this unnatural fame. Then it plays off the ending that would go on familiar troupes but had difficulty knowing if the conflict has solved itself for closure. But even when only some of the plot points come together ideally as they should’ve, you can’t go wrong with a promising debut that isn’t afraid to say what’s true.

With a sharp satirical script and an Oscar-worthy performance by Jeffery Wright, I will remember American Fiction fondly as a humorous and insightful time that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but will have you thinking.