PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Cord Jefferson strikes a chord (I hate myself for that) in his satirical drama, American Fiction, based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett. Jeffrey Wright plays Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a struggling author whose books are relegated to the African-American Studies section of the bookstore. An effusive Monk points out that “The blackest thing about these books is the ink!”
Monk is under financial pressure from his literary agent, Arthur (John Ortiz), to produce a hit. Still, unlike the latest popular urban novel, We’s Live in Da Ghetto, by Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), Monk refuses to stoop to this level as an insult to himself and Black America.
When put on leave by the university where he teaches, Monk takes a quick trip home to visit his sister, Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross), and mother, Agnes (Leslie Uggams). While on the trip, Lisa dies from a heart attack, and with Agnes in the early stages of dementia, Monk needs to put her in a nursing facility. He can’t afford it, and neither can his plastic surgeon brother, Clifford (Sterling K. Brown), who is recently divorced after coming out as gay.
As a joke, Monk writes a supposed gritty urban novel titled “My Pafology” under the pseudonym Stagger Lee, an escaped convict on the run. To his shock and disbelief, the book is immediately picked up for a hefty advance, and a big Hollywood producer wants to turn it into a movie. Monk is at a loss, and his morals prevent him from moving forward…although his empty bank account says otherwise.
Tracee Ellis Ross stars as Lisa and Leslie Uggams as her mother Agnes in writer/director Cord Jefferson’s AMERICAN FICTION An Orion Pictures Release Photo credit: Claire Folger © 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.
“…writes a supposed gritty urban novel titled “My Pafology” under the pseudonym Stagger Lee, an escaped convict on the run.”
I can’t tell you how much I love American Fiction, though I’m obligated to do just that. I’ve always had problems with Hollywood’s current perception of race…not just for the Black community but for my own. American Fiction brings to light the idea that only certain stories can be told about minority communities to be lauded as Oscar contenders or even to make it to the theaters at all.
Asian stories are more than just immigrant stories, racism, and white oppression. Black stories are more than slavery, civil rights, and street crimes. In a recent interview, Cord Jefferson spoke of the pillars of the Black experience spanning from slavery to the presidency and how there are thousands of stories in between. American Fiction is a satire that hits this point home, spotlighting white liberal fascination with black and minority oppression.
Yes, the movie is political, but at its core is the story of a family. The Ellison family is a mess. Monk was the favorite son in the family, leaving Lisa and Clifford to fight for any affection. Monk all but abandons the family afterward, leaving very emotionally and psychologically damaged siblings. Monk’s return as a barely successful author stirs up old family s**t during their time of loss.
The American Fiction cast is brilliant. No one could play Monk other than Jeffrey Wright. He is a statesman, who brings gravitas to the study yet vulnerable Monk. Sterling K. Brown shines as the emotional ying to Wright’s cold yang. I should also mention Erika Alexander as Monk’s love interest, Coraline, and family nanny, Lorraine (Myra Lucretia Taylor), whose supporting roles ground the dysfunctional Ellison family.
All props go to writer/director Cord Jefferson for a brilliantly written screenplay and the perfect direction of this incredible cast. American Fiction has a lot to say about race in America today, and by bringing out into the open questions people have been asking for decades silently, American Fiction will resonate and hopefully bring together a divided world through its insightful humor.
American Fiction screened at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival.
"…cast is brilliant. No one could play Monk other than Jeffrey Wright."
