I went into this as a near-blind watch, knowing just that Jeffrey Wright was part of the cast & a little of what the synopsis was. Based on Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, Cord Jefferson brings something quite entertaining as his directorial debut. What’s fascinating is this work is two different movies in one, but Cord can balance them in a way that makes it just work.
Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Write) is a novelist who is going through a rough patch in life. He’s been asked to take a leave of absence due to his writing being a little too… frank. While he’s trying to get his latest book, a modern-day retelling of Aeschylus’ “The Persians” picked up by a publisher, he’s dealing with more career struggles of how society has put Black voices into its own defined box. Much of this frustration comes from a fellow writer, Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) just getting a book published that he finds to be quite ridiculous and offensive to writers.
Monk returns to his hometown in Boston to reconnect with his family, whom he’s drifted from after losing his father years earlier. We first meet Lisa (Tracy Ellis Ross), Monk’s sister, who has been taking care of their sickly mother (Leslie Uggams) on her own. Cliff (Sterling K. Brown) is the 3rd sibling who is more interested in his new lifestyle than being a part of the family. While we have this dysfunctional family dynamic, there’s great chemistry between them all that we see develop throughout the film, especially after an unexpected death that occurs early on.
All while working through the chaos of reconnecting with family and handling a loss, Monk’s mind stays on trying to sell his book and deal with his frustrations with the current climate. We spend a lot of time with his agent, Arthur (John Ortiz) who is trying to get Monk to write a more “Black” book like the current bestseller “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto” by Sintara Golden.
Grieving, drinking, and annoyed, Monk begins to write his own “Black” novel in a very mocking manner. This is one of the most creative moments of the movie as we get to see his vision in the room as he is typing on his laptop. Iterations of his characters appear, which include the great Keith David. Monk names his book “My Pafology” and uses the pen name Stagg R. Leigh. While still in his moment, he sends the book to Arthur requesting he immediately send it out to publishers. This is where the tone of the movie changes as the book is instantly picked up.
While Monk is trying to balance how to handle their interest in this new book, which he tries non-stop to get the book canceled, and his family issues, he meets his neighbor Coraline (Erika Alexander) and they begin to hit it off. Relationships are a big part of this movie and Jefferson makes good use of time to build these. The comedy and drama also work well together as many moments would have me laughing and then later on moments pulling at my heartstrings.
This movie does struggle a bit to piece everything together near the end with the mix of family drama plus the satirical comedy but even so, Jefferson does bring in good points on racial politics and Black representation. I really enjoyed the acting, the music, and the setting as a whole. Wright brings the coolest vibe to this movie and shows how strong of an actor he is. I hope he will land more lead roles in the future.
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments