Ficção Americana

I was looking forward to this. It's as funny as I anticipated and didn't disappoint. I loved the humor, like the way Issa Rae talked about her book, then proceeding to read it. I remember how much and how often the theatre broke out in laughter.

It's a story of a black writer who is tired of society's tend to stereotypes so he writes a crappy novel with intention of purely just trolling, but people eat it up and it becomes a best seller. I think in a way, the movie itself is like that; it tries to divert away from what you'd typically expect from a black story, that sounds weird... from a story based on black characters lol. It reminded me of "The Photograph (2020)," an okay romance movie (with Issa Rae too) that I liked because of its portrayal of a love story between two Black individuals, where the essence of romance took center stage instead being overly focused on their race or any associated struggles.

Loved how it was directed, the subtle yet not so subtle instances of race even though Thelonious. The social commentary was done really well and did not need to be shoved down your face to be effective. The characters are very easy to get invested in, even the ones that are short lived. I've only seen Jeffery Wright in supporting roles but he really nails his performance as a lead here which was great.

It's a film that balances deep emotions with humor, a difficult feat to achieve. Loved how there's a lot going on without the movie feeling overly crowded. It seamlessly combines satire and social commentary with a compelling family drama, and surprisingly, they harmonize flawlessly. Despite not being fast-paced, the film feels tightly packed, dedicating time to explore both themes thoroughly. Moreover, the quick-witted dialogue adds an extra layer of brilliance. Undoubtedly, this stands out as one of my favorite films of the year. The anticipation I had for it was met, and it truly stands as a unique movie.

This is a very thoughtful and entertaining movie. My wife seldom comments much but even a day later she commented on how good it is.

Jeffrey Wright is professor and novelist Thelonious Ellison. His family and close friends call him 'Monk' in honor of the famous jazz musician and composer Thelonious Monk, who died in 1982 at the age of 64.

This Monk takes his writing novels very seriously but is not achieving much success. Meanwhile he encounters another author, a well-educated and well-spoken black woman. However when she reads a portion of her latest popular book, it is all broken English and black slang. He is taken aback, what is going on here?

At some point he decides to spoof the industry, he writes a novel of black characters who use reprehensible language and ghetto slang. He writes it as a joke with a made-up pen name. To his surprise and shock the publishing company loves it, they offer a big sum to publish it, and another company is jockeying for the movie rights.

Reflecting on the story I am a bit loss on how to explain the last half hour of it, but it is overall a very well-made and entertaining movie. Jeffrey Wright is superb in the role.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Prime.

"American Fiction" has a great premise, one of the best in any movie this year. And I overall liked it and think it was well made, so I'm rounding my score up to reflect that. But it somehow didn't completely land for me, in a way that I find hard to explain.

I think it was the domestic drama part of the film that didn't completely work for me. The movie spends a lot of time on all the ways that Jeffrey Wright feels overwhelmed by his life's responsibilities, and it sags in some of these parts, and makes the movie feel a little bit like a slog. And I don't know that I ever completely believed the character played by Sterling K. Brown, who never seemed convincing as a gay man. But I did like what the film had to say about the burden placed on black people to constantly be representing black people everywhere that white people never have to deal with. And I also liked the choose your own adventure ending that takes the film into meta territory in its final scenes.

So, solid double for me, but not a home run.

Grade: A-

For reference, I frequently enjoy dumb-fun, mindless movies and watch basically everything superhero-related. You know... the kinds of movies where the writing is rarely the draw. Then I watch something with great writing and feel metaphorical whiplash. The difference is drastic.

Witty dialogue, intriguing story and clever scenarios elevate everything. The cast all give fantastic performances, especially Jeffrey Wright. But for me personally, by far the best attribute is the comedy. I full-volume laughed throughout. And the humor feels entirely original.

My only dislike is a few subplots, like the love life of his brother or the maid, that don't seem to be related to the main plot. They feel out of place and detract from the main story. Otherwise, I found American Fiction to be highly entertaining.

(1 viewing, opening Thursday 1/4/2024)

A movie about a black author tired of the simple and unidimensional exposure of the African-American culture and white people regarding it as holy work. As a protest, he fed them with a fiction of his own about the poverty and the hardships that come with being black. The book is so void of anything to him and his PhD in literature that he sends it to publishers as a joke, but little did he know that it was the demise of his morale. As some might find the end disappointing, it is very highlighting the whole speech of the movie. Because by the end, the audience is treated as the movie's white people; when it could have stopped on a question mark, it proposes an alternative ending that would please the masses.