ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The annual Oscars ceremony is coming up soon, and in a somewhat odd turn of events, I’ve actually been able to watch several of the movies that happen to be up for Best Picture this time around, with my most recent viewing being for “American Fiction.”
I’d sort of heard of the film through the grapevine for the past couple months and had heard a fair amount of praise for it, so I recently decided to give it a view of my own. Based on the 2001 novel “Erasure” by author Percival Everett, it follows novelist/professor Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) who, frustrated by a lack of more mainstream success, ends up writing an outlandish satire of stereotypical "black" books as more of a gag, only for it to be taken as a serious piece of literature and published to high sales and critical praise, with rather interesting results for everyone involved.
One of the movie’s big assets is how well it blends humor and drama throughout. The more humorous moments had me laughing out loud and with the more dramatic moments, it felt like my heart was being stomped on by 4-inch stiletto heels. And while more subtle (but something I still noticed), I also liked the movie’s message about how people shouldn’t be kept in boxes and how people should be allowed to explore and have a chance to go beyond whatever stereotypes they might be put into. Slightly less subtle – though still done in a good way – is the movie’s message about the public’s media consumption and how tastes have evolved (or devolved, depending on your viewpoint). Overall, I felt the writers did a wonderful job blending everything, and it’s a pretty solid screenplay.
Something else I felt the writers did really well was with the writing of the female characters, particularly with Monk’s sister, Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross, who makes the most of her sadly too-brief screen time) and his later girlfriend, Coraline (Erika Alexander). There are moments throughout the movie when Monk is being a bit of a jerk, and neither of them are afraid to call him out on it, which is rather refreshing because there are still too many moments in media where a male character is a complete tool and the female characters just forgive him. I particularly loved the sibling dynamic between Monk and Lisa and it somewhat reminded me of my bond with my own siblings with the dumb jokes and light roasting of each other.
Also deserving of some praise is Issa Rae, who portrays fellow author Sintara Golden, whose recent work is what sets Monk’s book in motion – it’s one of those roles that doesn’t have a LOT of screen time, but Rae makes the most of it and does a great job. There’s a conversation near the end of the movie between Monk and Sintara, and it’s one of those rare scenes I thought was as close to movie perfect as one could get.
In keeping with the acting praise, I also thought Jeffrey Wright was fantastic in the lead role and thought he did a great job capturing not only Monk’s desire for recognition, but also his anger and frustration about some of the facets of his personal life. I’ve seen Wright in only a handful of movies so far, and he’s knocked it out of the park in those as well, so I hope “American Fiction” helps people really notice how talented he is. He also happens to be one of this Best Actor nominees, so we’ll see how that plays out. Another standout was Sterling K. Brown as Monk’s brother, Cliff – like Sintara’s character, he doesn’t get a LOT of screen time, but he makes the most of what he does have, and I would have actually liked to see a little more exploration of his character, because I felt like he was somewhat an afterthought. Overall, in terms of acting, everyone delivered on their role – whether they make you laugh, cry or shake your head in a particular scene, everyone does an amazing job and it’s one of those rare movies where I don’t really have any complaints with the casting.
If there is one criticism I have to make of the movie, it’s with the ending. I was not at all a fan of how the movie ended up using the idea of alternative endings (a la “Wayne’s World”), because it absolutely kills the momentum and concludes everything on a seriously unsatisfying note. It was definitely one of those endings where afterward, I actually said out loud “THAT’S how you decided to write the ending?!” It was rather disappointing to see such a good movie get derailed within the last couple minutes, and I’m not entirely sure what the thought process was behind it.
Overall, I enjoyed “American Fiction and would give it a “B-plus” grade. The story is wonderful and does an amazing job combining humor and drama and makes everything warm and entertaining, and there are a couple of important messages to be picked up on. The casting is also extremely spot on, particularly with leading man Jeffrey Wright and fellow cast members Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown, and I actually found no faults with anyone. However, the ending left something to be desired, and that’s the reason the movie falls short of the “A” grade. If you’re looking for a good, solid movie, “American Fiction” is one to cue up.
