Movie Review: American Fiction (2023)

Genre: Drama Comedy  

Director: Cord Jefferson  

Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Erika Alexander, John Ortiz, Adam Brody, Issa Rae, Stirling L. Brown  

Running Time: 117 minutes  

Synopsis: Dr. Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is a black professor and author, labouring in obscurity because he does not care to write about black issues. Close to burn out, he spends time with his family in Massachusetts, where successive health crises strike his sister Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross) and mother Agnes (Leslie Uggams). Monk starts a romance with Coraline (Erika Alexander) and witnesses the success of new author Sintara (Issa Rae), whose debut novel about the "raw" black experience is celebrated in literary circles. As a joke Monk cranks out his own "raw" novel under a pseudonym, and it is immediately acclaimed a classic.

What Works Well: Wrapping biting satire around caustic social commentary, writer and director Cord Jefferson uses dry humour to expose hypocrisy in culture and the fleeting superficiality of topics-du-jour. Neither the weight of family tragedies descending on Monk nor his academic pursuits are of any interest to anyone else. But his throwaway crass novel about black thugs is suddenly all the rage amongst elites pretending to care. And when he tests insincerity limits by insisting on a vulgar title, the frenzy only intensifies. Jeffrey Wright rides Monk's downs-and-ups with an appropriate sense of bemused detachment. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The secondary characters surrounding Monk succumb to quantity over quality, adding some value but mostly accumulating into a pile of clutter and padding.

Conclusion: Perceptively on-trend.



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Movie Review: Barbie (2023)

Genre: Satirical Comedy Musical

Director: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell

Running Time: 114 minutes

Synopsis: Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives in Barbieland, an idyllic matriarchy where the resident Barbies believe they have solved all of women's problems. Ken (Ryan Gosling) and the other men play subsidiary roles, mostly as beach decoration. When Barbie suddenly starts thinking about death and her feet turn flat, Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) advises a trip to the real world to find her troubled owner. Barbie and Ken are shocked to discover that Los Angeles is a patriarchy, and Ken uses his awakening to transform Barbieland. Meanwhile Barbie learns about real women from the mother-daughter pair of Gloria (America Ferrera) and Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt).

What Works Well: For a movie about an iconic doll coveted by pre-teens, the script (by director Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach) is ambitious: snide comments about feminism, the male-female power imbalance (in all directions), ditzyness, faux intellectualism, and performative enlightenment pepper Barbie's adventure. The humour is steady and harmless, while the production design animates a doll's vivid world with imaginative plastic. Extra points for an opening inspired by a classic, and Helen Mirren's narration. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The none-too-serious throw-everything-at-the-wall attitude is suitable for child attention spans, but in the search for humanity behind symbolism, not much sticks beyond the obvious lecturing about impossible expectations placed on women. Most of the musical interludes smack of padding, as does the would-be intervention of Will Ferrell as the Mattel CEO and his doofus band of men-in-suits. 

Conclusion: As an industrial-scaled marketing machine, nobody is putting Barbie back in a box.



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Movie Review: The Lovebirds (2020)

Genre: Crime Comedy

Director: Michael Showalter

Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae

Running Time: 87 minutes

Synopsis: After four years together, New Orleans couple Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae) are constantly bickering and ready to call time on their relationship. While driving to a party they accidentally hit a cyclist, then they are carjacked by a mustachioed man and a murder is committed. Worried that they will be implicated, Jibran and Leilani go on the run and attempt to find the killer themselves, leading to madcap adventures involving blackmail and a secret cult.

What Works Well: Whether arguing (often) or agreeing (rarely), Nanjiani and Rae carry an easy chemistry that energizes this Date Night-like adventure. The humour is steady and often excellent, and the script avoids excess to thrive within the concise running time. The many highlights include the initial murder scene, a kicking horse, frequent and witty wardrobe changes, and best of all, the masked sex cult ceremony. Along the way, the couple stay true to their characters but add a dash of romance by rekindling their connection.

What Does Not Work As Well: The conspiracy details are barely explained, the profanity is more excessive than necessary, and while some jokes miss, others are over-stretched. 

Conclusion: Lovers' quarrels are not the worst thing that can happen on a night out.



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