Washed up Writer Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is sick and tired of corporations (and just about everything and everyone else) profiting off of black individuals. Yet, he finds himself at the heart of something eerily similar to the thing that he hates. Dealing with the drama present within his Bostonian family, the pressure of being a writer, and life itself, Monk will begin to question all that he knows and loves. American Fiction is a drama that dives deep into the very soul of the issues that surround us all each and every day.
Believe it or not, the thing that struck me the most about American Fiction was its sound. A combination of the score, intense silence, and the stunning voices of each of the actors guides viewers through the film. Starting with the score, Laura Karpman creates something that is emotional and dramatic, helping to carry the film through in its entirety–but to juxtapose that brilliant score, Writer-Director Cord Jefferson implements moments of complete silence in the background, offering these stellar and incredibly effective actors to shine. In those aforementioned moments, Jefferson allows those actors/characters to remain front and center, with nothing to steal the limelight–and it was these instances that allowed me to understand, in full, how powerful the voices of each and every actor was to the success of the film. Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross (Lisa Ellison), Sterling K. Brown (Clifford Ellison), and Erika Alexander (Coraline) are the most prominently featured individuals, and their voices become the focus of nearly every scene–coming through crisp and beautiful in every single moment of American Fiction. Again, it’s the sound that transcends the film, that allows it to come to life in the fashion that it did–and not a second passes in which Jefferson and his team don’t teeter on perfection in this regard.
There’s a lot going on throughout the course of American Fiction. Everything from death to fiction writing takes the stage throughout this film, and there are times when it feels like Jefferson and Writer (of the novel) Percival Everett may have done too much–but that never becomes a reality. American Fiction is a delicate balancing act, one that brilliantly keeps every aspect of the narrative in check. Jefferson never allows any aspect of the film to overshadow another, and whether it’s romance, fiction writing, black culture, or something else entirely, everything has its place–and Jefferson pieces American Fiction together like a beautiful puzzle.
It’s difficult to choose one actor and to say that he or she was the best of the film, because each and every one of these actors brought their A-game. The reality is that Wright and Brown thrilled me from the moment they stepped on screen until the moment the film concluded. Even actors that took smaller roles such as Adam Brody (Wiley Valdespino) and Issa Rae (Sintara Golden) made the film better. Like the many moving parts of the narrative, each and every character plays a pivotal role in the development of American Fiction. Every character has a purpose, one that Jefferson doesn’t allow them to veer from–and with this all-star cast, American Fiction flourishes.
American Fiction is unapologetically in your face with its message, but I never felt that the film, or anyone connected to it, was being overly aggressive. This cast and crew presents the world with just the right amount of passion and vigor to allow the film to flourish, to get its point across, and allow viewers from all walks of life to appreciate and understand what they have to say. American Fiction is deserving of every Oscar nomination that it’s received, and should the film walk away with any hardware at The 96th Academy Awards, it will have certainly been earned.
Directed by Cord Jefferson.
Written by Cord Jefferson & Percival Everett.
Starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Raymond Anthony Thomas, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10 = DROP EVERYTHING AND GET TO THE THEATER
