American Fiction was partially released on Christmas day, but it is yet to reach all theaters. I had to go to the Movie Tavern and pay full price to go and see it, instead of going to Regal and being able to use my movie pass. Always a shame, but I had been waiting to see this, so I had been checking Movie Tavern’s showings to see if they would show American Fiction or All of Us Strangers, also a smaller release. Both have been receiving praise, but sadly I heard the plot lines about both, so I was not able to go in completely blind to American Fiction like I usually do, but it was still a solid watch.
American Fiction follows Monk, a professor, who is also an author, but he has not published anything in a while, but due to some discontent among his students and some familial problems, he had to take some time away from the university. Monk had a book written, but the publishers were not biting on it, because it was not “black enough.” So he decided to write a blacker book, but he did it satirically. He did not expect anyone to like it. He personally thought it was horrible, so he submitted it using a pseudonym. It ended up blowing up in his face in a good way and a bad way. The book was a hit. Publishers loved it, people loved it, and the award givers loved it too. Although he was morally opposed to this success, his sister had just passed away, and his mom needed to be put in a nursing home, because she had Alzheimer’s. So he was not in an area to turn the money down, but the pressure of pretending to be this fake author fresh out of jail, not to mention all the family issues, was too much for him, and it was hurting his relationships.
One of the biggest questions this raises is what line a person is willing to cross to get money. As a professor, who had just been suspended, and an author, who had not published anything recently, Monk needed some income, especially once his mother received her diagnosis. So although he initially thought it reprehensible to get this book published, because he felt like the book lessened the black experience, he went through with it. There were multiple times when he tried to get out of it, but each time he failed. He truly tried hard to get it canned. He literally ran out of a meeting to have the book turned into a movie, he demanded the title of the book be changed to Fuck, and he was on the board of voters who gave his book a prestigious award, and he argued against it winning. If he ever really wanted it thrown out, he could have, but at the end of the day, the money was just too much.
The movie was one giant piece of satire. It mainly focused on white people deciding what black voices should say, and what is important for them to say. The scene that sums it up the most is when they are voting on what book should win the award, and the three white people vote for Monk’s book, Fuck, but the two black voters vote against it, and the reasoning the white people gave for choosing the book was because it is important to listen to black voices. The movie is filled with these moments, that are genuinely laugh out loud funny.
There was such a great balance between comedy and drama. This led to a fun theatrical experience in a semi filled theater. It is always more fun to laugh when others are there, and when they buckled down and did some serious family drama scenes, it worked. There were multiple moments that had me close to tears, and it was great to have these moments followed by something absurd being said not too long after. A well balanced dramady if I have ever seen one!
The performances in this movie were well done, especially Jeffery Wright. There was one issue I had with the movie, and that was the ending. Up until that point, the meta nature of the film worked, but when they did the three different endings, it felt a little forced and took me out of the experience. I got the joke that they were making, but it made the ending shaky instead of smooth, but ultimately it did not take away from the rest of the movie, and it would be nice to see Jeffery Wright get nominated for an Oscar for best actor. I do not think he would win, but I do think he is worthy of the nomination. I gave this movie 3.5 stars, and I would recommend seeing it, and at some point, it will be on Amazon Prime, so keep an eye out for it.
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