American Fiction tells the story of a Black professor and writer nicknamed "Monk" (Jeffrey Wright), whose fiction about all kinds of people earns praise but not a lot of money. Monk is angered when another Black intellectual writes a best seller that exploits every bad stereotype about Blacks in the ghetto. Monk writes a similarly crude blacksploitation novel under a pseudonym and tells his agent (John Ortiz) to shop the book to publishers, in order to "push it in their faces." Not only is the book published but, to Monk's chagrin, becomes a hit and helps him get a movie offer. Monk is forced to reckon with the monster the book created and the charade of his double life.

Wright is superb as a complex man who struggles with his writing, his family relations, and his romance with lawyer Coraline (well played by Erika Alexander, with the the perfect combination of smart and sweet). Based on the movie's trailer, I expected the turmoil over Monk's novel to be the core of the story. The movie delivers with hilarious interchanges between Monk, his agent, and earnest publishers and critics who believe he has written an authentic Black novel.

However, way too much of the movie's time was wasted on Monk's tense relations with his sister (big-eyed Tracee Ross) and his brother (Sterling K. Brown), and the siblings' issues with their late father. Family dramas are way too common, but great comedies are hard to find these days. At times, I thought I was watching two movies at once, only one of which was entertaining.