I was disappointed in Cord Jefferson's 'American Fiction'. And let me quickly get this out of the way; it's possible that my expectations were too high. There was so much buzz about this film during the past month I doubt anything could have lived up to my anticipation. And if that's the case: I'm sorry.
What disappointed me? One, the film's lack of energy; there was, for me, a sort of shuffling through the story as opposed to the characters' taking big broad steps. Then Two, I was surprised at how much of a (dysfunctional) family story this was , as opposed to a story more edgy in a more universal way. And Three, the main character - a novelist - has to learn something about himself over the course of the film, but I'm not convinced that he does. And if he does, I wonder how long it'll last. Worse still, we are told what he will learn early in the film; a Jimmy Walker Scotch Liquor metaphor.
In order to pay his mother's mounting medical bills our black novelist 'Monk' Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) writes a trashy black-exploitation story under a pseudonym. When the book becomes a tremendous success (monetarily) he is faced with owning-up to the fact that he wrote it, or somehow keeping it undercover. First, the fact that he can keep it secret is handled in a most awkward way; something about his being a felon on the run. But more important, this problem puts him at odds with his new girlfriend (a radiant Erika Alexander), his brother (Sterling K. Brown) and mother (Leslie Uggams), other novelists, his agent and publishers, film-makers, but most of all, with himself.
There is a scene early on where two employees of a Publishing House ooh and ahh to Monk about his wonderful (trashy) book. The scene is fantastic. Crisp and clear in its racism, in its total lack of sincerity, in their willingness to sell out for the sake of big bucks. And I wish there were many more scenes like this one. Scenes with the back and forth pacing that proved both edgy and hilarious. There were a couple of such encounters; but too few by far.
Instead we get family problems. A gay brother. A mother with dementia. A sister's early death. A lying and cheating father. None of which, by the way, would be any different were the characters not black. No, what we have is a family of doctors (2) and one novelist. And I'm not altogether certain about whether I'm supposed to like them and, if so, root for their problems to be solved.
But, fact is, it is that lack of (my) caring that kept me at arm's length with 'American Fiction'.
What disappointed me? One, the film's lack of energy; there was, for me, a sort of shuffling through the story as opposed to the characters' taking big broad steps. Then Two, I was surprised at how much of a (dysfunctional) family story this was , as opposed to a story more edgy in a more universal way. And Three, the main character - a novelist - has to learn something about himself over the course of the film, but I'm not convinced that he does. And if he does, I wonder how long it'll last. Worse still, we are told what he will learn early in the film; a Jimmy Walker Scotch Liquor metaphor.
In order to pay his mother's mounting medical bills our black novelist 'Monk' Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) writes a trashy black-exploitation story under a pseudonym. When the book becomes a tremendous success (monetarily) he is faced with owning-up to the fact that he wrote it, or somehow keeping it undercover. First, the fact that he can keep it secret is handled in a most awkward way; something about his being a felon on the run. But more important, this problem puts him at odds with his new girlfriend (a radiant Erika Alexander), his brother (Sterling K. Brown) and mother (Leslie Uggams), other novelists, his agent and publishers, film-makers, but most of all, with himself.
There is a scene early on where two employees of a Publishing House ooh and ahh to Monk about his wonderful (trashy) book. The scene is fantastic. Crisp and clear in its racism, in its total lack of sincerity, in their willingness to sell out for the sake of big bucks. And I wish there were many more scenes like this one. Scenes with the back and forth pacing that proved both edgy and hilarious. There were a couple of such encounters; but too few by far.
Instead we get family problems. A gay brother. A mother with dementia. A sister's early death. A lying and cheating father. None of which, by the way, would be any different were the characters not black. No, what we have is a family of doctors (2) and one novelist. And I'm not altogether certain about whether I'm supposed to like them and, if so, root for their problems to be solved.
But, fact is, it is that lack of (my) caring that kept me at arm's length with 'American Fiction'.