AMERICAN FICTION is a Must-Watch | Movie Review | Jeffery Wright
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- čas přidán 14. 12. 2023
- Today I'm reviewing "American Fiction," the NEW comedy-drama film written and directed by Cord Jefferson (in his feature directorial debut). It stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Sterling K. Brown.
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Synopsis:
Monk is a frustrated novelist who's fed up with the establishment that profits from Black entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, he 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
Screenplay by
Cord Jefferson
Based on
Erasure by Percival Everett
Starring
Jeffrey Wright
Tracee Ellis Ross
Issa Rae
Sterling K. Brown
Erika Alexander
Cinematography
Cristina Dunlap
Music by
Laura Karpman
Distributed by
Amazon MGM Studios
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There's A LOT to discuss, but what did YOU think of AMERICAN FICTION? Comment Below!
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I watched it thanks to ur review; it’s very well done but the theme of selling out to cross over has been done many times, going back to Hollywood Shuffle.
There's a meta theme with this movie that I think explains a lot. Monk wanted to tell good stories that people weren't super interested in, so he did something spicy and funny to draw an audience. That's also what this film did. The satire part was the Stag book, and the family drama was the Monk book. Well played, movie.
I know the ending isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think it was pretty effective in throwing shades to Hollywood film adaptations of much-revered novels.
Clever. Didn't notice that. He really could've just stuck to the family story. I woulda been more interested in that.
I like that Issa and Jeffery's convo got cut off when the white people came back into the room. That's how it is in real life. We get deep about what's going on with us, but shut all that down when they walk in. They both know to keep that debate in the family.
Exactly!!
I liked what you had to say and agree with most of it. My only discrepancy is that I actually enjoyed the family dynamics. I feel like one of the things the film is pointing to is that so many Black films are focused on race / stereotypes. By including real family drama & storyline, it is simultaneously creating a movie about a family with real issues that just so happens to be black instead of focusing on stereotypes. At least that's how I interpreted it. I also really enjoyed the breaking of the 4th wall throughout the movie... the fact it is a movie about a book, based on a real life book that was turned into a movie.
Watched almost all of your reviews since like 4 years ago. Big fan from uganda 🇺🇬🇺🇬
Ian that means a lot to me and really appreciate all the continued support my friend! Love much to Uganda 🇺🇬
Great film cast from Issa Rae to Keith David. Saw it yesterday. It's a modern version of Bamboozled in book form. I'm going to read the book, Erasure this month.
This movie was amazing! 10/10 . They are going to sweep the Oscars.
I hope so
Any other year it should, but both Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer are stiff competition.
Any other year maybe…but not this one!
I need to find this film in my area. Jeffrey Wright is an incredible actor, and Sterling K is soul stirring. He deserves a win!
I saw this 2 weeks ago (AMC theaters did this for their screen unseen surprise event 🙌🏽) and LOVED it. I can’t wait to watch again. This is the movie I always wanted to see.
How lucky, I paid but don't regret it at all :)
Jeffrey Wright was amazing as always. I thought Sterling K Brown was also a real standout on the big screen. Would also love to see Cord Jefferson get a directing award.
I loved this film! In response to one of your criticisms, I liked that some of the stories didn’t get wrapped up in a bow because that is true to life. I hope it wins lots of awards because it deserves it. So smartly written, directed and acted!
I was left thirsty after this film...
The film tackles important issues of:
1. High achievement and social mobility
2. Family trauma, gender roles & aging parents
3. Authenticity and the burden of authentic living. Earning a wage and navigating a society that requires a bright mind to confirm to damaging stereotypes.
I fully appreciate the popularity of the film. BUT I was left curious and disappointed by the ending.
Here are my takeaways:
1. He conceded to the stereotypes by giving the studio the violent ending they required. Therefore playing into their hands.
2. I was unclear how he remedied conceding to the studios demand for flat lining the black experience
3. What's the takeaway message for aspirational black folks who battle with the same issues. Should we concede?
#americanfiction
I took away a few messages unhelpful messages.
1. Concede
2. Give them what they want
3. Get paid.
I haven't heard of this movie but will definitely check it out.... When you gave your synopsis of the movie, is sounded similar to the main points of Bamboozled. I'm glad you pointed that out in the video.
Hope you enjoy it and really appreciate you watching my review.
Caught this today (finally) and I really enjoyed this movie. Super refreshing and this cast was so good. The writing, score and acting are top notch.
If Wright is awarded it would be either at Critics Choice/Sag and Brown at Sag
Thanks for the review
Couldn't agree more!
Amazing movie! Sad it’s in limited release right now but happy I was able to run to see it as soon as it dropped. Go see this movie!
Yeah I’m hoping more people check it out on its wide release next week
I wanted to see it. So many lame movies in theaters... where's this playing? No responses? No answer? Is this a racist thing that it's not in most theaters? It must be triggering people. I'm glad the gatekeepers are a vanishing bunch.
one of the reasons this film is better than some of the movies you referenced from years past which trod similar ground is that it is a 3-d film, covering many aspects, instead of just hitting us over the head with the main theme in a cartoonish way. I appreciate that and I think it's very successful in doing so. my only gripe is the end of the film where I feel the filmmakers fell prey to the urge to look smart instead of giving us some kind of epilogue
1:46 it’s funny how black trauma in film is apparently an issue for us, yet the affluent successful black family still faced trauma: financial, death, sexual identity.
And it’s just hard to present a black family divorced from the reality of race including those stereotypes we dislike.
We all know or have a Pookie in our families.
exactly 💯
Uuuugh mentioning Tyler Perry in the same breath as Spike is just BLASPHEMY
The yin and yang ☯️
Great review! One speculation i would mention, that you semi covered, is the maynard/lorraine marriage! You loved the family love but wasnt sure how it fit into the story. I would argue, from a gay perspective, it gave Sterling Browns character some sort of closure and acceptance into a "chosen family," which is a common gay trope. I believe the whole marriage was to serve sterling browns character progression. At least from my gay opinion
Yes!!!! I felt like the wedding too almost seemed upset that he couldn’t have that
You summed up the pros and cons perfectly. Good predictions on the awards too
Read the book (Erasure) years ago. Look forward to seeing it.
And damn, Tracee Ellis Ross busy this year.
Wow, you nailed the nomination predictions. New subscriber. I loved this film.
Just saw the film and loved it. SK Brown was a standout. I agree with your cons.
the first time i saw J.Wright was in Shaft too 😂😂 imo his performance outshined everyone. going back in to some of his earlier work, i think 'Basquiat' was a really good movie too
Wife and i just saw this movie. It was so awesome. I love the messages about how for some reason we have so many black trauma and hood/slave movies.
My wife says it would be like if it was Nas ghostwriting for Sexxy Red as a joke, and then she turns out to be a superstar.
I am looking forward to this movie, I love Jeffery Wright. Great review! My husband is from St. Louis so that is cool that you are there!
Thank you for this review. Helpful !
I'm really excited to see this! Jeffrey Wright is so good in everything and based on the trailer it looks awesome
Very excited for this one! I unfortunately missed it at TIFF, but I plan on doing a American Fiction and Poor Things double feature next week haha! Glad you loved it!
That’s a excellent double feature
Looking forward to this film. Really love Jeffrey Wright since Basquiat. Was talking to someone today about the Spike Lee film Bamboozled and think this film might be like that Spike Lee joint, which I really enjoyed. Also, seems like Hollywood Shuffle. Thanks for another great review!
Appreciate you watching my review. Hope you enjoy it!
Excellent analysis!! I came out feeling the same way. I'd even add that in that climactic conversation with Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) there's this opportunity for Monk to come face to face with his own self-loathing and I would've loved for him to accept the book and in a way accept himself. I see this difference between him and Golden because Golden at least loves her own work and is willing to own it and it is a real shame someone walked in and cut that conversation off and in a sense cut off the entire movie. I 100% agree, you could've allocated some of the runtime from the family drama to pursue that moment between Golden and Monk and its implications just a little bit further, but overall, this film had some of the best guts laugh I had all year.
Exactly the whole juice of the story was right there and it dropped the ball and just got worse smh it could’ve been a lot better but ended up being some liberal fake woke propaganda
It had some good moments tho ngl I might have to give it another shot
May have to check this out now!
Definitely worth checking out
Well crafted film review. Thank you!
Just saw it, definitely a you’ll laugh you’ll cry kinda movie, it really landed for me.
I read the book Erasure, which the movie is based on. I am looking forward to seeing this. I wish it wasn't a limited release.
Great review. I'm looking forward to this one.
I hope to see this one up for Best director, original screenplay, actor, and supporting actor.
Saw it last Sunday…..SO GOOD 👏🏾
Great review! I've loved Sterling k Brown since This is Us and Black Panther 1
He’s really good in this movie
You said it perfectly! It takes me awhile to resonate with satirical content. I liked it but didn’t love it.
I agree with you about Sterling K. Brown’s performance, he stole the spotlight in every scene he was in.
Great review ❤
🤔 Wonder why some of the bigger film reviewers on YT haven’t said a word about this film (sees cast) OOOOO I KNOW THIS ONE 🙋🏾♂️
Yupppp
I just saw this tonight and loved it! It was impressive how many different topics they were able to cover in 2 hours. I can see your point about that one relationship being kind of unnecessary, but it was also kind of sweet. I'd also give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
Great review, agreed with everything but I liked the wedding and how it shows how family can evolve. Wish we got more answers about rest of Monks family though
Can't wait to check this out
Really good movie
How is this any dif then a book version of Spike Lee's Bamboozled were protagonist sells out with a degrading TV Series?
Loved it. Was funny, moving, one of Jeffrey Wright's best
Great review! I really liked this one!
Just saw it and loved it. Didn't realize there was all this debate about it.
I found it good but not fully what it could have been. I felt Monk getting pigeonholed as a black writer was the most compelling struggle.
The movie focused more on leaning into the black entertainment stereotypes and I thought Monk gave in to the entertainment machine at the end.
Was going to see book of Clarence but decided on this film at the last minute. Loved the movie and it was funny and inspiring.
I will see book of Clarence maybe next weekend but this was amazing time well spent
I havent laughed out loud from a movie in a long time . Great and funny movie. 😂
Great review. Just subscribed.
Thank you and welcome to the community.
I loved it. Watched it twice and will probably watch it again. The score was terrific also.
I thought the movie was one of the smartest and relevant depictions of Black life. It was giving me "Hollywood Shuffle" vibes.
This movie finally came to my theater this week and I thought it was pretty great! Jeffrey Wright was fantastic (as always) and Sterling K Brown blew me away! The main plot of him writing this book was so entertaining and just seeing how this "joke" he wrote keeps escalating and getting bigger and bigger had me dying!! A lot of the B plot/family storyline was happening so fast in the background so it didn't hit as hard but I really enjoyed it exspeciallywith this great cast. Definitely one of the best and smartest movies of the year. I just loved witnessing the absurdity of the entertainment industry
Good review. Really enjoyed the film; the scene where he negotiates over the final book title was the single hardest laugh I had in a movie this year.
I wanted to love this movie but 40% of the movie was about his family issues while 60% of the movie has the cutting edge satire that I came to watch. His sister also died within like 7-8 shots of the movie. It happened so fast and they moved on so quickly from it to focus on the mom with Alzheimer’s.
The ending was also a bit meta and it’s a bit frustrating we never find out what actually happened when everyone found out he wrote the book.
Overall I’d give it a 6.5/10
I agree that some of the family drama elements were a bit undercooked. For example, cliff's drug issues were alluded to a bunch of times, but never really addressed, and I felt like that was a shame
Edit: okay, it just crossed my mind that maybe the whole point of cliff's character was parodying how people treat stereotypes about minorites as fact and then squeeze them for sob stories
I think there was just so much other stuff going on that nobody wanted to get into it.
@@resaunders26 I get that, but then that means they didn't really have to keep it in
@@yeelahowah7476 ... Huh, I'm gonna have to think about that
I am so glad I found your channel. Very much agreed with your review. Great, thought-provoking but not didactic film.
Just watched this. I give it a 7 out of 10. Not a very rewatchable film but still telling an important message.
I liked the trailer so much I read the book (different at some important points) before I saw the movie.
The point of the movie about black people mostly getting trauma porn when there's so much more going on was a good solid part of the movie. It also points out that this isn't just about white audiences-- black people want trauma porn, too.
It was brilliant to have the main characters be a family of wiseasses.
If anyone knows of good longform reviews with spoilers, could you point me at them?
Definitely looking forward to this one as it’s based on the novel, Erasure, written by Percival Everett (one of my favorite authors). I think the last debut directorial Oscar win was Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) so maybe Wright has a chance. I haven’t seen the film yet but I have high hopes given your review!
Definitely let me know your thoughts after you’ve seen it. Appreciate you watching my review.
Beasts of the Southern Wild didn't win anything. Besides, directorial debuts such as Get Out and Promising Young Woman have won Oscars in 2018 and 2021.
Awesome movie. Such a beautiful story, and so funny. Now I need to read the book!
I couldn't really stand the movie. But the book is really good. The movie cut out too many things, changed how the sister died, changed his relationship to his brother, changed the ending for that matter. And none of those changes were for the better. The book is more nuanced and believable. IMHO.
I finally got a chance to buy this on Amazon prime a few hours ago it was everything I thought, I loved it 10/10
This review makes me want to watch movie. I wish it was playing in cinemas here!
It’ll have its wide release next week
Thanks!
Really appreciate the support Nathan. Thank you so much 👏🏾
I saw the movie yesterday... brilliant. Maybe my favorite movie of 2023
Best review of the movie that I've found so far. Great movie however I agree with you 💯 on the cons
A very deep film. The story is all too familiar. The timing is beautiful. It won't be recognized like it should, but it's muched needed to still be "REMINDED".
This movie was fucking phenomenal. The movie theater I was in was filled with black, white and Hispanic people. We were all cracking up and we all totally got it. This is an Oscar were the movie, they should win every award.
Mate, the second season of From is out, and it's good ( so far ) give it a try.
I told you this two year ago about season 1
It’s getting the noms 🥰
Well deserved
I agree, great film, but did leave you wanting more. The cast was outstanding
The Directing was pretty par for the course- but the script was really great! I hope it wins for that.
This was an excellent movie.
I absolutely loved this movie.
i will definitely see this 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
this movie was great. We have to do a review ASAP
Yes 😊😊😊
Loved this movie
I loved this movie. The only way they could have included all the things you wanted without short changing the movie would have been to add an additional hour. 😂😂😂
Brilliant movie.
Message: Kill that kind of storytelling/storyteller
I loved the imagery and enjoyed some of the humor. Overall, I left feeling artistically hungry.
As I watched the film some of the satirical aspects reminded me of the classic film Hollywood Shuffle.
Jeffrey Wright, 2003 Angles in America.
I loved the movie. The white people were hilarious. I liked Jeffrey Wright.
*** SPOILERS ALERT? :D ****
I believe that all the stuff you think got cut short, it is maybe on purpose? Like, the movie shows you that you won't get a resolution in life. You will be interrupted, one tragic thing will make you stop dealing with something else that worried you before, relationships will end abruptly...
... and I don't know if I am correct or not, but that's what the character of the movie director is ther for. He HATES that real life has no resolution, and then, he needs ends for the movie he is creating, so he FORCES Monk to create one satisfying one. So he gets it, he gets his resolution. But the audience won't.
Tired of this trend in films witn the "open ended/ left to your interpretation" endings!....wrap the story up, stop short changing the audience!
I thought the family dynamics and the relationships were there to show how ordinary the protagonist's life is despite being black. He truly cannot relate to what the consumers expect from a "black writer". I think it was intentionally mellow/regular. It's stuff that almost anyone can relate to.
OKAY!! didn't know you're from STL, what HS did you go to? 😂😂😂.
I’m from and grew in Chicago but been living here since 2017.
@@MovieFiles gotcha
A film criticism of this movie is deeply ironic. Or maybe that's just me lol
Yall must be too young for spike lee and bamboozled, came to find those comments
I mentioned it in the video
The movie made me sad.
This movie is theatrical art and Oscar worthy, not like the make believe superheroes hanging from cables next to green screens.
I didn't like this movie at all. It was a slow build & dragging film. It was labeled as a comedy drama but I really only laughed during Issa Rae's initial scene. It was so painfully slow it was almost depressing. Ultimately it came off to me as some bougie, overly intellectual negro's version of Bamboozled...which was much more entertaining while getting us to think. This movie read like 1 long lecture to me; 1 long angry criticism on media with commentary we already knew of and were aware of. 🙄
The scene was cut short by a character. Weird to bring up there race in that context and exactly what this movie is complaining about. Just a character ont a white character or black character unless theres a actual reason the race would matter.
Watch the movie. You'll see why it's relevant.
I loved the movie but why does Hollywood insist on inserting a gay black male character into every black themed movie or tv show now???
SMH
A black male in a black show? Did you mean to say gay?
@@summerrain6125 my bad
I edited it
This movie feels like a massive strawman to me and it kind of felt like it was accusing people of something they didnt do.
It was like soft core porn. They didn’t really penetrate the issue that deeply.
This movie sucked I fell asleep I thought it would’ve been funnier and then they crowbarred the whole 🌈 agenda it was sooooo unnecessary.
I wanted to love this movie but it is definitely for the Fake Woke Crowd 🫠.