American Fiction
released 2023
www.ink2quill.com

“American Fiction” is an American, family drama, comedy produced by Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, Michael Bowes, Nikos Karamigios, Ben LeClair, Hannah Offer, Lenny Payan, Dan Watson, Percival Everett, Bruce Wayne Gillis, Jermaine Johnson, and Cord Jefferson among others. It was also directed by Cord Johnson who co-wrote the screenplay with Percival Everett. It stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Okieriete Onaodowan, Miriam Shor, Michael Cyril Creighton, Michael Jibrin, Patrick Fischler, Neal Lerner, Adrian M. Mompoint, J. C. MacKenzie, Jenn Harris and many others. The caste of talent are many and fantastic. This is a fantastic film.

American Fiction IMDb webpage

“American Fiction” is the story of a well established, well educated and very talented writer named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, played by Jeffrey Wright, who although is well esteemed in the literary world his books do not sell so well. We watch Monk, (whose nickname probably comes from the incredibly talented and famous jazz musician Thelonious Monk), navigate his family life with all its problems and history. We watch him deal with sudden death of one family member and the slow decay of health of another. Through this all there is a giant hole in the family fabric left by the sudden and unexpected loss of his father who took his own life at a time when Monk was so much less ready to process it. That vacuum from the death of Monk’s father never completely healed and created a strange type of dysfunction within the family characterized by an uncomfortable distance among family members. They are all poor communicators, undoubtedly a family trait from their late father, especially Monk. The exception of this is his brother Cliff, played by Sterling K. Brown, who tells things as they are without any sugar coating. This family needs a good dose of honesty to bring them together and give them the quality relationship they deserve.

I have to say that although everybody in this film did an incredible job the character of Cliff played by Sterling K. Brown was what made the story in many ways. His performance was nothing less than excellent and showed just how important the character of Cliff was to the family dynamic. Cliff is not only a rebel at heart but a truth teller. He often gets to the truth without any euphemisms or polite language. Shakespeare sometimes used the character of the fool to accomplish this in his plays. The conversations Monk has with Cliff are so revealing of his character and identity and why he is the way he is. He tells Monk at one point something to the effect of “Not relating to people is not a super power.”. There are many words of wisdom from Cliff but he is probably the most damaged member of the family too. Growing up he was not the ‘golden child’ or parent’s favorite of the family and neither was his sister Lisa, played by Tracee Ellis Ross. She did a fantastic job too. There is another disturbing dynamic of this African American family on their hierarchy that I do not want to discuss for fear of being censored but for those viewers with a good eye they will see it. Anywho. Sterling K. Brown did a fantastic job in this role. I also wished we had gotten a little more of Lisa. The pearls of wisdom she gives are spectacular.

I loved the way the members of Monk’s family gave him a better picture of himself and his problems through conversation. They really explained his flaws to him. First his sister Lisa when she explained that he was their parents’ favorite. And Cliff exposing his character flaws and narcissism. Monk’s reconnection with his family, the times when he meets his sister then his brother, are very good therapy and growth for him. They show him things about himself that he needs to change to get out of the social rut he is in. Yes. Monk is stuck in his life and needs to unstick himself so he can have better relationships with those he loves. That is the story in a nutshell. And come to think of it it’s all our stories. How many times has any relationship gotten better and more meaningful after good conversation? That is the lesson of the story.

Now what about Monk’s career? Well that is where things get really funny. As I stated before Monk is a well educated, I think he went to the top US university, very talented writer with years experience. However, he does not sell many books. Oddly enough this is a common situation for writers of all calibers, even the good ones. Unfortunately so many good writers do not have access to the mainstream. Entertainment and the bookstores, online shops etc. have limited space and are highly censored and monopolized places. This is an unfortunate fact for Monk whose books somehow don’t reach the bigger crowds. They just don’t reach the mainstream until he writes a book with a bogus story under a bogus identity named “Pafologi” then changed to “F*ck”. His earnings and recognition take off after he writes the biggest piece of garbage he probably ever wrote and that’s such a good criticism on society and consumption as a whole.

I really loved this film and if the film “Amsterdam” was my favorite film for the year 2022 then I have to say that “American Fiction” is my favorite for the year 2023. This film is like a good book that will have you thinking about the story long after the end credits are off the screen. So check out “American Fiction” because it’s a gem.

John Ink2Quill

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