Movie Review: ‘American Fiction

American Fantasy (116 minutes, rated R for language, drug use, sexual references, and brief violence) 7/10

American Fiction is a satirical comedy-drama based on the 2001 novel about a novelist (researcher) trying to find an audience that "gets" him...understands where he's coming from and what he's looking for as he tries to communicate his literary ideas works . . According to him, there is an intellectual gap between his work and what his readers think. This well-known middle-aged author seems to have found success, but for the wrong reasons. And he was fed up with it.

Even more frightening is that it calls into question not only his creativity, but also the fact that he is going through a life crisis: he is a lonely, emotionally detached and talented writer... but worried that there are no more mountains to climb. Having seen him in his 50s, this man is worth living, suspicious and nothing to write home about. It's a fundamentally absurd circle that the monk Alison (Jeffrey Wright) finds himself in, proud of his black heritage but aware that his "black ethic" is wrong or distorted by his publishers, who seek sales, not prices. Ironically, it is white readers who are more familiar with his work than the people he writes about. This is the ironic premise of the film.

Written and directed by Cord Jefferson, the adaptation of Percival Everett's novel Erasure sees Monk's career come to an abrupt halt as he embarks on a mission of introspection and truth-seeking to connect or reconnect with whoever he's talking to. this is his "black". He believes his novels failed to convey what it meant to be a successful black writer in an elitist, white-dominated world. At least he sees it that way, but the others don't. He is a harsh person who criticizes not only his work, but also the work of others. And he knows how to wither his old friendships to the point of self-destruction. To say Monk is crazy is an understatement.

If this all sounds like a fun movie to watch... live. It's hard to be on the same page with him. As a writer who thinks he's out of ideas from a black man's perspective, and is respected for it, his aimless wanderings in search of answers irritate us, the audience. He's just too bitter and callous and mean, so confused inside that he doesn't know if he'll ever find his way out of the rabbit hole of insecurity and vanity. Whether satire or irony, Monk's latest book, which exaggerates black stereotypes, is a big hit, even among black readers. How can it be? He tried to do the opposite. It's a tired theme that runs through the film, portraying Monk as someone who hates everything, has no filter, and is angry most of the time.

It's a dress-up experience. However, the film has two strengths: an intelligently written and insightful script, which is very honest about its protagonist... and a powerful, dynamic yet nuanced performance from Geoffrey Wright, one of our most gifted. The film also features a number of great actors and actresses, whose roles play an important role in Monk's search for truth and cultural identity. He's going through an identity crisis that comes to the forefront of the film and leads to a brain freeze that might satisfy him but leaves us a little polarized. It is a detailed account of one man's search for what he believes to be his place in society (destiny?) despite his toxic personality dysfunctions. I'm not sure we'll learn what Monk learned from his noble crusade.

American Fantasy hits theaters on December 15th.

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