American Fiction

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

This is an interesting movie about a writer who isn't selling books, so he stoops to writing lower quality work and writes a hit sarcastically. I'm pretty sure there is an episode of Family Guy where Brian does this exact same thing, but the setup isn't really the point. This is a movie about a writer, not really about writing, his family dynamics, and his skepticism around the ongoing conversations around race.

First off, lots of laughs. I thought the way it made fun of people and how they talk around race was really funny and super relatable. A couple of the jokes had me really laughing, which feels kind of rare in the things I watch these days. But this movie is really sad at times, the family having gone through a lot of pain and kind of pulling apart from each other. The dynamics were emphasized but I found them relatable.

Jeffrey Wright is an atypical leading man, but I thought he was great. The character is thorny and dry and cutting, skeptical about everything and pretty distant. Again, maybe a bit relatable as someone who is constantly assuming the worst in everything. Another interesting aspect I thought was how it positions the family and the events they go through. It feels like plot points we see very often for white family's in movies, and is not usually how black families are portrayed. Can't really say a ton without spoiling, but it felt like it was playing on our expectations a bit. And that's ultimately Monk's frustration, race being used in a blunt way that flattens the experience, or in his words as a product for the consumption of white people.

I really enjoyed watching this, mostly because of the humour, and I respect that it uses a meta-ish ending that kind of comes out of left field. I think a typical ending to a movie like this would make it more digestible, with clear takeaways about race or family, but its better that it was more vague with a bit less resolution. Check this one out and you won't be disappointed!