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In Theaters Now
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
Summary Monk (Jeffrey Wright) is a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Directed By: Cord Jefferson
Written By: Percival Everett, Cord Jefferson
In Theaters Now
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
American Fiction
5.9
Where to Watch
Summary Monk (Jeffrey Wright) is a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Directed By: Cord Jefferson
Written By: Percival Everett, Cord Jefferson
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 45 Critic Reviews
82
100% Positive
45 Reviews
45 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 45 Critic Reviews
82
100% Positive
45 Reviews
45 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The satire isn’t as brutal as it could have been — and perhaps needed to be — but overall, I thought “American Fiction” was a rousing success that got me thinking about my own experiences.
Cord Jefferson’s slashingly funny satire of Black literary stereotyping is one of the best and boldest American comedies in years with a dynamite performance by Jeffrey Wright that should put him up front in the Oscar sweeps. You won't look at race on screen in the same way again.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 28 User Ratings
5.9
50% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
25% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
25% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 28 User Ratings
5.9
50% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
25% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
25% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
IN A NUTSHELL:
The story is based on Percival Everett’s book called “Erasure.”
This is director Cord Jefferson’s debut! He’s off to a great start! He also wrote the screenplay with Percival Everett. The film has already won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. In total, it has received 90 nominations and already won 29! Well deserved.
THINGS I LIKED:
Jeffrey Wright is absolutely terrific and does an excellent job carrying this film.
The rest of the cast is also fantastic and includes Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Keith David, and more.
I’m always fascinated by movies about writers. I’m an author of 31 books (you can find them all on Amazon from various publishers…shameless plug), so I love seeing how they’re portrayed in films. You can search for my books by using my nane: Trina Boice.
The movie absolutely pokes fun at white people who seem to know more about being black than actual black people.
It was heartbreaking to watch the family navigate an aging mother with Alzheimer’s Disease. My family just went through that and had to say goodbye last fall. Those scenes were hard to watch for me. There are so many decisions that a family needs to make during those difficult times, and I thought the film did a good job illustrating that.
There is a lot of clever, satirical humor that pokes fun at society, race, and culture.
I love the ending of the film that shows several endings.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
I really enjoyed this.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Kids will be bored.
The “N” word is used.
Profanity, including many F-bombs, which also happens to be the name of a book that’s talked about a lot in the story.
Talk of **** sex. We see two **** men kiss.
We see a lot of shirtless men.
Lots of gunshots that result in a bloody death.
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This movie is exceptional as a social commentary, a family story, and a comedy with dramatic tension/drama with many comedic moments. The characters are well-developed and the story line is finely honed. It is very gratifying for a movie to be so warm-hearted and to deal so deftly with many facets of racial issues. Kudos to the writer and any contributors to the script, every actor as well as the director!
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American Fiction fully understands that you don't have to sacrifice art or politics for entertainment, satisfying those who want a rich thematic experience or to just have a laugh in a crowded theater.
It helps that American Fiction has, at its center, someone who gives Monk a keen intelligence, a razor-sharp wit, and a spiky exterior, as well as showing you the perpetually scratched romantic beneath the battle-tested cynic.
With American Fiction, Cord Jefferson crafts a hilarious and withering satire about an African American novelist chafing against an industry that limits Black storytelling to trauma and poverty narratives.
The end result is often so insightful and entertaining that it makes you immediately wonder what subject matter Jefferson will tackle next.
Without spoiling its increasingly ludicrous (and ludicrously believable) escalations, American Fiction ultimately gets off scot-free clinging doggedly to the middle ground.
I think there is a trend on this site to give movies involving a black cast a low rating. The same ratings I have seen for Jewish producers like Spielberg See this movie as it is one of my all time favorites. People should have to prove they have seen a movie to post a rating!
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When American Review was in satire mode--I was right there with it laughing, and enjoying the movie. Genuine, heart-felt laughs and great writing.
But when things in real life got serious w/subjects like death, alzheimers, dysfunctional family members and broken relationships?
I couldn't wait to get back to the satire part of the story.
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Jeffrey Wright plays a writer/professor who can't seem to get his new book published. Out of frustration he pens a novel full of outrageous Black stereotypes that, to his surprise, becomes a best seller. The core of the satire revolves around white culture and it's response to the novel. Sadly, it's only occasionally funny…more often incisive. Actually, his personal plight with his family is the most interesting part of the story with Tracee Ellis Ross & Sterling K. Brown turning in wonderful performances as his siblings. Wright embraces his character with depth and it's was great to see Leslie Uggams playing his mother. While the writing delves into hypocrisy from several angles, it gradually becomes more preachy and less amusing. There are unquestionably racial questions to be addressed and political statements to be made. The movie's message maintains its sardonic punch, while lacking the comedy that would have made the film even more effective
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It’s frustrating to watch a much-anticipated movie that doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Such is the case with writer-director Cord Jefferson’s debut feature. The problem here is that the film tries to tell two stories in one picture, one that it does brilliantly and one that could use some serious trimming, because the inclusion of its segments interrupts the flow every time it comes up during the course of the narrative. This tale of a talented but commercially unsuccessful African-American author (Jeffrey Wright) laments the success of a younger peer (Issa Rae) who writes a best-selling “Black” book that he sees as little more than market-pandering rubbish. However, in response, when he does the same under a pseudonym as a means of protest, he becomes an overnight sensation for all of the artistic and readership considerations that he personally despises. He now has to ask himself how can live with that kind of success, especially when the title becomes a runaway juggernaut. As he struggles with this, he’s also faced with a family drama with the death of a relative, managing the future of care for his Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother (Leslie Uggams) and a ne’er-do-well, self-centered sibling who’s reluctant to help out (Sterling K. Brown). Unfortunately, the domestic story thread is overlong and tends to bog down the satirical social commentary/personal integrity aspects of the picture, which are really strong enough to stand on their own and should have been given wider play (fault the screenplay here). Despite its shortcomings, however, “American Fiction” definitely deserves kudos for the performances of its ensemble cast, especially Wright, who turns in his best work here and has garnered a number of awards season nominations already, with more undoubtedly to come. In all, though, this feels like an offering that’s half-baked for what it serves up, which is regrettable, given that, with some shoring up in the writing, this easily could have become a modern screen classic.
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Production Company
3 Arts Entertainment,
MRC Film,
Media Rights Capital (MRC),
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),
Orion Pictures,
T-Street
Release Date Dec 15, 2023
Duration 1 h 57 m
Rating R
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
Black Reel Awards
• 9 Nominations
Columbus Film Critics Association
• 7 Nominations
