Professor of English literature, Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), is up in arms over many things. For one, his class is facing hyperbole from one student who objects to the title of a book on the American South literature course he's teaching ("You are going to encounter some archaic thoughts, coarse language..."). This opening scene alone dictates the long-standing problem with universities in general, especially when you consider the book this film is based on ("Erasure") was written in 2001. Students often cry foul and have their sensibilities offended, and this is just one white female student who leaves the class in tears. But let's get back to the movie. Monk is told by the college faculty to take a leave of absence and reluctantly spend time with his family in Boston where he also has to attend a literary seminar with a sparse audience. The ball is not in his court.
Monk has a very loving mother who has Alzheimer's; a sister, Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross), who is a doctor, and a brother (Sterling-K-Brown), a plastic surgeon who had a divorce from his wife because she found him in bed with a man. Lisa understands Monk and only wishes he was living closer to deal with family health issues - one that his sister suffers from after dying from a sudden heart attack. Monk has his departed sister cremated and now has to find assisted living for his ailing mother. This costs more money than Monk makes since his latest book may not have found a buyer - what to do? Inspired and rather annoyed by the success of the best-selling book "We's Lives In Da Ghetto" by writer Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), Monk opts to write a typically stereotypical melodrama with coarse language, to be sure, and archaic thoughts that inflate violent situations called "My Pafology" which later has a title change that starts with the letter F, not Ph. The manuscript not only gets sold but becomes an instant nationwide hit and Monk uses an alias, painting himself as some sort of wanted convict!
"American Fiction" is fascinating in its complex portrait of family, and it makes no difference whether we are talking about a black family or not - the film firmly establishes any family as family. They have their universal problems of sickness, acceptance of some family members over others, romance, marriage, etc. It was crucial for director Jefferson to make that leap, which shouldn't in 2023 be considered such a leap. Jeffrey Wright, an unsung character actor who first exploded with fireworks in his portrayal of the artist Basquiat in the late 90's, effectively and with solid understatement shows a man who cannot comprehend this day and age. How can such a phenomenal writer who is not considered "black enough" contend with writing exploitation and showing black men as anything but regular people? (I still wonder what "not black enough" means, a phrase repeated frequently for the last 20 years or so). How can his new girlfriend actually buy that book that he can't admit to writing? How can he judge books as a juror when "My Pafology" is not only up for literary awards, it may actually win?
"American Fiction" is smooth, confident and never aims to be over-the-top. It has a harmonious balance between exaggeration, derisive humor and heavy drama. Writer-director Cord Jefferson deftly handles it with expert finesse, as if he has been a veteran director and has just made his magnum opus. I have seen films that have the rhythms of jazz and "American Fiction" is one that plays like a bittersweet jazz piece, one we need to hear more often.
