My Review- American Fiction My Rating 9/10 Streaming on Amazon Prime

It's a great shame that this fine movie had gone straight to streaming without a theatrical release in Australia but that unfortunately is the nature now of the movie industry.

American Fiction is another of the ten movies nominated as Best Picture of 2023 plus 4 more Oscar nods including Best Actor for Jeffrey Wright who is perfectly cast as Thelonius Ellison or Monk as he is called throughout the movie .

I really enjoyed this original ,thought provoking and at times very humorous story . It really exposes the hypocrisy and woke marketing that has infiltrated every aspect of the entertainment industry today.

I don't think the movie American Fiction or Jeffrey White's performance is the finest of the year but it certainly is up there with the best.

The main thrust of the movie is the crusade of the main character Monk a talented but unappreciated novelist to expose the saturation of black stereotypes in popular novels that he finds so demeaning .

Monk is at first reluctant to write the trash that he refers to that become best sellers aimed at white audiences that seem only to portray violence ,crime and poverty in the black community.

Monk's reluctance to change his style from an intellectual author to a stereotypical best seller like the writers he holds in contempt occurs when he is nearly broke and can't afford his beloved mother's health care.

He presents his latest book titled My Pafology to his agent who is at first horrified by its content full of all the tropes Monk says he hates and he knows white people love. It's a story of drugs, deadbeat fathers, and gang shootings but the publishers and even movie studios lap it up and offer millions for the rights to publish.

It even becomes more appealing when Monk publishes under the pseudonym of a fictitious criminal fugitive named Stagg R. Leigh.

Then the fun begins in clever satire full of colourful characters and situations.

As well as being a satire on the culture stereotypes of today American Fiction is also a family drama with humorous benefits.

I found it very interesting that Monk's family in the movie was a comfortably off middle class African American family totally explaining why he was so irritated with the authors who ignored black high achievers.

His elderly mother Agnes Ellison even has a black maid delightfully played by Myra Lucretia Taylor . Lucretia pays homage to the countless black actresses who played maids in so many historic movies when they were only offered maid roles.

Thankfully today any role is available to any actor or actress of colour we've come a long way.

Monk's mother Agnes suffering from dementia is delightfully and sensitively played the by the wonderful Leslie Uggams a pioneer African American entertainer and singer who integrated her fabulous singing voice into mainstream American culture over 65 years ago in 1961 through the enormously popular Mitch Miller Show.

Sterling K. Brown plays Clifford Ellison the brother of Monk Ellison who had come out as a late bloomer and after a marriage bust up is embracing his new life style and expects his family to also accept his new sexuality choice. Sterling K . Has some of the funniest moments in the movie .

There are many other good performances in American Fiction including Tracee Ellis Ross as Monks sister Lisa even though hers is not a large role it's a very touching performance. I also enjoyed Erika Alexander who plays Coraline Monk's girlfriend who sees through Monk's quiet reluctance to commit to relationships and criticism.

Based on a novel by Percival Everett Erasure American Fiction was adapted to the screen by Cord Jefferson who also directed the movie American Fiction is an impressive movie.