Greetings again from the darkness. From one who watches too many movies every year, I'm amazed this film is the work of a director making his feature film directorial debut. Writer-director Cord Jefferson was one of the lead writers for the excellent series "Master of None", and he has adapted the 2001 novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett for the big screen. It's a brilliant satire and commentary on a society that has twisted things to the point where no one knows what to say or how to say it.
The film opens with a college professor pushing back on a student's overly emotional reaction to his use of the N-word in class. What strikes us in the scene is that the professor is black and the student is white. The confrontation costs Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (the always great Jeffrey Wright) his job at a New England university, and perfectly sets the stage for the rest of the story – much of which centers on Monk's incredulity at the progression of events around him.
Without a steady teaching paycheck, Monk heads to his see his agent Arthur (well-known character actor John Ortiz), who informs that his most recent intellectual book has no market, and suggests he write something a bit more mainstream. Monk heads to the Boston book festival and hears author Sintara Golden (comedian Issa Rae, BARBIE) in a public reading of a particularly stereotypical excerpt from her latest best-seller, purported to telling "black stories, our stories". Monk simply can't believe there is an audience for this or that it passes for black representation.
On a lark, Monk sits down to crank out a "black" story by a black writer. He does so as a joke, and is shocked, and a bit annoyed, that a publisher comes back with a huge offer. The negotiations with the publisher are hilarious. We see two white professionals desperate to offer a cool black book, yet so afraid to say the wrong thing (something offensive), that they inexplicably agree to Monk's terms … changing the title to an unpublishable curse word. As a bonus, Monk has published the book under the pseudonym Stagg R. Lee (a takeoff on the classic Lloyd Price song). The publishing deal requires Monk to assume the identity of a wanted fugitive as part of the backstory for marketing purposes. When the movie offer rolls in, Monk is again beside himself, and states, "the dumber I act, the richer I get."
While all this is going on, Monk is also facing some struggles in his personal life with his mother (80 year old Leslie Uggams, "Roots") who is struggling with dementia, his financially-strapped sister Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross, Diana's daughter, THE HIGH NOTE, 2020), and brother Cliff (Sterling K Brown, WAVES, 2019, "This is Us") whose recent divorce was caused by his revealing his preference for a gay lifestyle. All of this for a family whose dad committed suicide years ago. In the midst of all the family and professional drama, Monk strikes up a relationship with Coraline (Erika Alexander, GET OUT, 2017), a neighbor across the street, though he can't bring himself to come clean with this latest publishing scheme.
The best comedies have something to say, and the best satires are often quite cynical as they expose the absurdity of our world. Monk is dumbfounded at many of the same things that dumbfound us, and this peaks at his meeting with an aptly named movie producer, Wiley Valdespino (played by Adam Brody, READY OR NOT, 2019). Myra Lucretia Taylor (THE BIG SICK, 2017) has a supporting role as the housekeeper, and there are too many terrific scenes to count. One of the best is a debate between Monk and Sintara, and the writing is priceless and brilliant. An intelligent man like Monk cannot wrap his head around the fact that black books pandering to white readers who are trying to follow the rules is the new path to success. Filmmaker Cord Jefferson delivers the message (warning?) in a smart, funny movie featuring a wonderful lead performance by Jeffrey Wright.
Opening in theaters nationwide on December 22, 2023
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