American Fiction
I guess every generation deserves their As Good As It Gets, an instantly dated, grumpy, self-congratulatory, tv-esque, aim-at-the-low-hanging-fruit, have-something-to-say-but-say-it-in-the-most-obvious-way, pseudo-edgy but ultimately toothless Oscar-nominee. For all its frustration with <PERSON>-bait black films, American Fiction is today’s version of Oscar bait (proof the movie is at least 10-15 years late to the game).
But even beyond all that… just not good writing. Sure, there’s a clever line or observation here or there, but it is also the kind of thing where a character awkwardly smokes a cigarette and then suddenly dies a few scenes later. A guy is way in the background during a moment of domestic drama and comes across the screen just in time for a joke. 292
Really telegraphed, transparent stuff. Characters only exist to clumsily push the plot forward or allow other characters to riff. It’s stilted, cumbersome writing with no consistency to the world it’s building. I gave it 100 pages then bailed. 723