American Fiction
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A novelist who is fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
At once broadly comedic and bitingly barbed, ‘American Fiction’ is the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (an outstanding Jeffrey Wright), a writer and malcontent who unwillingly finds himself back in his East Coast hometown.
There he is confronted with the family turmoil he tries to avoid, heightened by growing irritation with the expectations he feels from the literary establishment about what “Black literature” ought to be. This is an extremely funny movie that lands some sharp blows, and a stellar feature debut from seasoned TV writer Cord Jefferson, where he confronts our culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes.