In Cord Jefferson’s idea-dense “American Fiction,” no one wants to publish literary professor Thelonious Ellison’s latest novel. Thelonious — or “Monk” to his friends — has delivered a modern reworking of Aeschylus’ “The Persians” (hardly bestseller material to begin with), but all the industry can see is the color of his skin. The editors compliment his prose, but want to know what this manuscript “has to do with the Black experience.” In frustration, he dashes off a parody of the thug-life trauma porn the world seems to want, submits it to his agent, and suddenly, he’s the “man of the hour.”
If that sounds like the setup for a lit-world “Bamboozled,” then you might be surprised by how even-tempered the film feels. First published in 2001 (the year after Spike Lee’s confrontational satire came out), Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure” had fangs. Jefferson files them down — not necessarily a bad thing, since the accomplished TV writer (who worked as a story editor on “Master of None” and “Watchmen”) sets out to prove that audiences will embrace a more nuanced look at Black identity. His greatest ally in this is no less an actor than Jeffrey Wright, whose understated performance here ranks among his best.
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