No Matter What Challenges and Stereotypes You Face in Life, You Are Not Immune from the Challenges Within Your Own Family
Release dates: December 15, 2023 (United States)
Director: Cord Jefferson
Screenplay:Cord Jefferson
Based on Erasure by Percival Everett
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
Genre: Comedy, drama
Run time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Director and writer Cord Jefferson theatrical directorial debut ‘American Fiction’, based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, tells the challenges of writer and academic Thelonious "Monk" Ellison Jeffrey Wright) as he tries to comes to terms with the success and fame of writers/authors, especially Sinatra Golden (Issa Rae) whose books are full of all the stereotypes about African American while at the same time trying to cope with family dynamic with his sister Lisa Ellison (Tracee Ellis Ross), brother Clifford "Cliff" Ellison (Sterling K. Brown), his mother Agnes Ellison Leslie Uggams and affairs of the heart with Coraline (Erika Alexander).
American Fiction takes you through the up and downs of family life. You can share in the tough times of loss and the good times of celebration. It shows that being educated with financial means does not shield you from life’s trials and tribulations.
We are reminded of the importance of being seen and having our humanity acknowledged during a conversation between Monk and Cliff.
Monk said, “what if he rejected you? Referring to their father. Cliff, “at least he would have rejected the real me.”
Cord’s script finds a visually interesting way of bringing Monk’s characters Willey the Wonker (Keith David) along with his son, to life as he drafts his book full of African American stereotypes. It is like a live play within the film. This style used through-out brought added dimension to the film
The beautiful setting of his home state of Massachusetts, his family home and beach house shows without words the upper middle-class lifestyle that Monk and his family enjoyed.
As Monk struggles to understand the value in Sinatra Golden’s successful book He has a conversation with Sinatra and refers to the potential of a writer when Sinatra said, “potential is what they see when they think a person is not good enough.”
There is so much truth in her statement. It makes you think about the stereotype people hold that lets you know they do not think highly of the people they demean. how non-minorities think of people of color
About Jefferey Cord
Jefferey Cord’s T.V. credits include Succession, The Good Place, Master of None, and his 2020 Emmy winning episode This Extraordinary Being. He began his writing career with publications The Ringer, GQ, the New Yorker, and later serving as the editor of Gawker .
Production companies: Orion Pictures, MRC Film, T-Street Productions, 3 Arts Entertainment
Distributors: Amazon MGM Studios
Release dates: December 15, 2023 (United States)
Run time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Cord Jefferson
Screenplay:Cord Jefferson
Based on Erasure by Percival Everett
Producers: Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, Ben LeClair
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
Cinematographer: Cristina Dunlap
Editor: Hilda Rasula
Music: Laura Karpman