In this age of divided politics and wokeness (I hate that word but it’s appropriate here), it’s all too easy to reduce others to stereotypes. It’s definitely not correct but it is how the world has unfortunately become. AMERICAN FICTION looks at one such stereotype and pokes a big, and often times hilarious, stick at it.

Dr. Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright, THE BATMAN; NO TIME TO DIE; TV’s WESTWORLD) is an English Literature professor at a college in Los Angeles. After challenging his students to discuss the use of the N-word in books, he is reprimanded by a panel of his colleagues who think his class was too triggering for his White students. With his latest book manuscript making the rounds of publishers, he decides to take some time off from teaching and head back to Boston where his mother, Agnes (Leslie Uggams, the DEADPOOL films), is in the early stages of dementia. Though his published books have received academic praise, they haven’t sold well because the White liberal elite feels that they’re not “Black” enough. While in Boston he attends an event for best-selling author Sintara Golden (Issa Rae, BARBIE; THE HATE U GIVE) and he sees that her latest book, which is a stereotypical portrayal of African-Americans today, is being celebrated by those same people. As a joke, Monk quickly writes a similarly styled book under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh and, much to his surprise, it becomes an overnight sensation. With a film adaptation being greenlit by Hollywood, Monk must quickly concoct a backstory to support his new literary persona. Meanwhile, Monk’s homelife takes a few surprising twists and turns both with his sister Lisa (Tracie Ellis Ross, THE HIGH NOTE), who is a physician, and brother Cliff (Sterling K. Brown, HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL), who is a plastic surgeon, and with Coraline (Erika Alexander, GET OUT), a divorcée who lives across the road from the Ellison family’s beach house located south of Boston.

AMERICAN FICTION covers a lot of ground, both in Monk’s professional and personal lives, and it unfortunately doesn’t always work as well as it should. At its core, the story does an effective job satirizing White people’s perceptions of Blacks in America, thought I’ll admit that’s a pretty broad brush it’s using, but it gets a big bogged down with all that goes on with Monk’s family. I get that writer-director Cord Jefferson is trying to ground his main character in real-world, dare I say “stereotypically White” family problems but I think the ultimate point he’s trying to make might have been better served if he would have focused more on the absurdity of the situation Monk suddenly finds himself in.

Fortunately, Wright and the rest of the cast do a fabulous job keeping the train on the tracks. I believe this is Wright’s first time headlining a film and his performance here only highlights that we need to see him front and center more often. Both he and Brown have been rightly nominated for Oscars with the film receiving five nominations in total. Jefferson, who made his directorial debut here, may have surprised everyone including himself last week when he won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay beating out heavyweights ALL OF US STRANGERS, OPPENHEIMER, POOR THINGS and THE ZONE OF INTEREST. I’m sure I’m not alone in looking forward to seeing what he does next.

AMERICAN FICTION is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video. It’s perhaps not as biting as it could have been but it is very good.

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