American Fiction

I just saw the movie American fiction, and it was truly a masterpiece. Masterpiece…  sometimes that word feels like it means ‘one of a kind’. I’d say in this scenario, this film is the perfect example of the true definition of a masterpiece, which is to say that it is crafted to perfection and, frankly, I don’t see error in this movie whatsoever. Of course the cinematography and audio side of things are masterful, but what really blew me away was how much the word nuance felt like an emotion more than a noun while I was watching this movie. There was something about it that felt like it was talking about itself the entire time, only to reveal that that was the point. That may not seem like it makes sense until you see the movie and that in itself is the point. There’s a lot of ambiguity and mystery but it’s because it’s the portrait of the main character. The film, and it’s main character Monk, have a lot of commonality in the way they communicate. Audience is never entirely privy, but the same can be said about the people in his life. 

The film is telling the story of a storyteller who is telling a story… but also his story.

Within itself, every piece of work that this is or talks about is symbolic and representative of the main character. Now that may sound like a super long winded over analytical review so let’s take it down a notch and really just look at the plot. This is the story of a writer who waters down his craft to make it more digestible for the common American. This film feels like it could touch something groundbreaking, but instead of touching those things, it simply makes jokes at them, rather than at their expense to completely compartmentalize the issue. This movie doesn’t make a social statement, but recognizes that they exist. It is the most self-aware piece of media I have consumed in a long long time. It was refreshing and exactly what I needed.

Ratings:

Acting: 10/10

Filming/Lighting: 9.3/10

Editing: 9.6/10

Overall Movie: 9.5/10

I do not care if this is incoherent. It makes sense to me and I am not a professional critic. Watch the movie– it’s fantastic.