Sterling K. Brown

American Fiction (2023): Cord Jefferson’s Directorial Debut Balances Humor and Emotion with Excellence

Posted on by Jack Drees

“American Fiction” is directed by Cord Jefferson and this is his directorial debut. The film stars Jeffrey Wright (Asteroid City, What If…?), Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish, The High Note), John Ortiz (Fast & Furious, Clyde Goes Boating), Erika Alexander (The Cosby Show, Living Single), Leslie Uggams (Roots, Deadpool), Adam Brody (Shazam!, Ready or Not), Issa Rae (Barbie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), and Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, Army Wives). This film is about an author who creates a satirical book under a pen name that becomes bigger than anyone, even he, could have imagined.

As we approach the end of the 2023 film awards season, it is time to discuss a movie that may not be a frontrunner to win all the Oscars this year, but one that has had a respectable share of spotlight. I knew about a lot of movies coming out towards the year’s end, but “American Fiction” was one that kind of came out of nowhere for me. It took me a couple trailer watches, mentions from social circles, and online pundits to drill the title in my head, but the whole idea of the film was something that I could get behind. It looked funny, well-acted, and well-written. Thankfully, when it comes to my expectations, this film hits all three of those checkmarks. The humor is great. The acting is great. The screenplay is great. And what makes all of this even better is that the director of this film, Cord Jefferson, is making this picture his debut.

According to his IMDb page, Cord Jefferson has never once directed anything else before “American Fiction.” This includes other features. This includes shorts. This includes television. Up until now, Jefferson has had a hand in television producing and writing. His resume includes “Master of None,” “Watchmen,” and “The Good Place,” the latter of which I have watched and find quite hilarious. It got me through my recovery after getting my wisdom teeth removed so I feel like I owe something to the people who made that show. And now Jefferson his taking his TV talents and using them to deliver one of 2023’s funniest films.

The ensemble for “American Fiction” can do no wrong. From the commanding, but not quite in your face presence of Jeffrey Wright, to the quality charisma of Tracee Ellis Ross to the flamboyant glory of Issa Rae, the latter of whom makes me imagine that she could eventually become one of my favorite performers in the near future. I thought Rae was a standout in “Barbie.” But she is a different kind of great here. Honestly, I almost cannot see anyone else playing her character. She does a great job not only having a hypnotic presence from scene one, but when we see her read her book, she does a great job at immersing me into the scene and feeling as if I am not only getting to hear the book, but maybe also getting some speck of imagination to the point where I would be mistaken to believe the events of the book are actually playing out in front of me.

As I have grown older, one of things I continue to appreciate about movies is the very idea of how people can take something and deliver a primarily visual experience, but if you have to ask me, “American Fiction’s” greatest asset has to be its dialogue. There are several lines from this film that are contenders to be some of the year’s best. I don’t think any of them will have as monumental of an impact as “Oppenheimer‘s” final line, “I believe we did,” but when it comes to individual lines, there is one quote from the main character that is funny, not only because of its delivery, but because regardless of its context, the more I think about it, the more I feel it applies to some aspects of modern society. Specifically, “The dumber I behave, the richer I get.” In fact, some would say this line even links to how entertainment works nowadays. There seems to be a consensus that we keep making entertainment, whether it is through movies, television, or in this movie’s case, books, arguably for the lowest common denominator. In fact, that falls in line with the main protagonist’s goal as well, because the film follows his journey as an author who cares about and finds passion in what he does, even though he does not have the widest audience. But the more he panders to a demographic or lie about himself, the more successful he becomes.

As for other standouts, the film itself looks beautiful. This film is shot by Cristina Dunlap. Cinematography-wise, it is not the top dog of the year, but it is sometimes enchanting to look at. The film is packed with a variety of eye-popping exterior shots. I may be biased because I am from Massachusetts and this movie is set around various areas I have been to around the state, but I can say that when it comes to showcasing those areas on camera, I will not deny that the showcase itself is rather pleasing. But the film is not just easy on the eyes, but also the ears. Laura Karpman’s score is quite good. It fits every scene well.

While this film may not win Best Picture at the Oscars this year, that said, you never know, it could pull an upset… I will say when it comes to this year’s slate, particularly the movies that are going for the heavy-hitting awards, this film gets some things right that I would say “Barbie” also gets right. Specifically the vibes and tone, mixed together with the overall look of the film. In some sense, “American Fiction” is a down to earth story about people you could probably find in our society, but it also comes off with this slight sense of fantasy. It is hard to describe, but I appreciated it.

I also must note that when I remember this film, I will remember it well for the laughs I had. The smiles I had. But it is a pretty balanced movie in terms of emotion. When we get to know Thelonious’s family, we also get to know his mother, who we find out has Alzheimer’s. While I will affirm the film is not quite as memorable as “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” when you take the main idea of “American Fiction” and combine it with this Alzheimer’s subplot, the two films feel similar tonally. Because “Everything Everywhere All at Once” had tons of multiversal shenanigans, but you also have an intriguing subplot that is more down to earth like the turmoil between multiple family relationships. As for the subplot itself, I thought it was handled with grace and it unleashed a great performance out of Leslie Uggams (right). In terms of story and characters, what “American Fiction” provides on the surface, is intriguing. That said, there is more to it that paints a pretty picture.

In the end, “American Fiction” is unpredictable, exciting, and hilarious. When it comes to commentary, this is one of 2023’s finest works. But it also does something equally as important. Entertain. Once again, this is the first film from Cord Jefferson, and I honestly cannot wait to see what he does next. It is not just a good time, it is a great time. And I think you will have a great time should you decide to watch this film. Not the best of 2023, but it gets a lot of things right. When it comes to flaws, they do exist. I will remember some aspects of this film more than others. Some scenes feel a tad abrupt in terms of flow. But there’s nothing game-breaking. As for my score, I am going to give “American Fiction” a high 7/10, and honestly if I were to watch it a second time, it could go up.

“American Fiction” is now playing in theaters everywhere. Tickets are available now.

Thanks for reading this review! If you enjoyed this review, I have more where that came from! Pretty soon I am going to have reviews for “Lisa Frankenstein,” “Madame Web,” “Bob Marley: One Love,” “Drive-Away Dolls” and my most anticipated movie this year, “Dune Part Two.” Also, if you have a lot of time on your hands and you want to find what films defined the art form in 2023, check out the 6th Annual Jack Awards, possibly the biggest waste of time in your entire life. Who knows? If you want to see more great content like this, follow the blog either with an email or WordPress account! Also, check out the official Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “American Fiction?” What did you think about it? Or, what is your favorite directorial debut? I don’t have a concrete answer, but I recently rewatched “Deadpool” over Valentine’s Day, because what other movie would I watch?! That was Tim Miller’s first feature film and it ended up being one of the funniest I have ever seen. If you have an answer of your own, say it down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

The Rhythm Section (2020): The Most Boring Record Breaker of All Time

Posted on by Jack Drees

“The Rhythm Section” is directed by Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale, Divorce) and stars Blake Lively (The Shallows, The Town), Jude Law (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) in a film… Zzzzzzzzz.

Sorry, what was that? I’m very sorry. This film is about a woman who seeks revenge after discovering the plane crash that killed her family was an act of terrorism.

This film is based on a book written by Mark Burnell. Interestingly, he also wrote the screenplay for this movie. I don’t know how the book is, I have personally never read it, but for all I know, it’s a masterpiece of a generation. Although I will say this movie took me back to my high school years when I was forced to read certain texts. I’m looking at you, “Pride & Prejudice!” You guys remember English class in high school? If you liked every single book, text, or piece of reading material you’ve gotten in high school, good for you. To me, this movie felt like a book I was forced to read in high school, ended up detesting from the first ten pages, and I would either drudge through it or leave it to the last minute.

Want to know something else? This movie is not that long. It’s not the shortest movie ever, but it has a total runtime of an hour and forty-nine minutes. I could totally see myself splitting some movie viewings into a couple of parts to take some things in. I did it with “Braveheart,” which is about 3 hours long. Heck, many movies have intermissions! I’ve even heard some countries apply intermissions to modern movies playing in theaters that don’t even come pre-packaged with them! A movie like “Braveheart,” even though was a little heavy at first, is exciting and exhilarating until the very end! “The Rhythm Section” is… BOORRRRING!

Now, it’s not “Gretel & Hansel” boring, it’s definitely not “Cats” boring, but “The Rhythm Section” is still pretty stinkin’ boring! The training scenes, which are… Okay, I guess, don’t feel like something I’ll remember two weeks from now. The action is fine, in fact there is a scene in this movie that is brilliantly shot, but that might be the best part of the movie even though it probably doesn’t say all that much, because it really doesn’t have anything to write home about.

Speaking of that awesome action scene, I do want to say something about it. I won’t go into much detail about the scene itself, partially to avoid spoilers, as usual, but much like some of those books I’ve read in high school, I’m forgetting about it as we speak. What did Virginia Woolf do again? I will say though, there is one action sequence where a car chase is going down, Blake Lively’s character is driving, and the camera is in the car pretty much the whole time. For like a minute or so, the frame doesn’t cut, break, or switch. It just stays put the entire time in the same shot. I’ve noticed a lot of movies have done something like this in recent years, or more specifically, they take a bunch of shots together and make it look like one shot. “Kingsman: The Secret Service” had an awesome throwdown scene in a church where Colin Firth beat, shot, and stabbed everyone to death. “Zombieland: Double Tap” had an insane scene like this go down in Elvis Presley’s house. “Atomic Blonde” had something like this too, where Charlize Theron spends eight minutes taking everyone down. While the first two examples feel fantastical, this shot felt more like something that had an “Atomic Blonde” vibe. Unfortunately, “Atomic Blonde” is a much better movie, a more engaging movie as well, but like these examples sort of relate to “The Rhythm Section” in terms of camerawork. There were some scenes, like that one cool action sequence, where the camera was well-utilized. Unfortunately, I can’t always say the same about the editing.

I rarely talk about edits in movies that I don’t like, although I still wonder why “Bohemian Rhapsody” won an Academy Award for it, so there is that. There was a scene in the beginning that caught my attention, everything is all quick cutty and fast. And I get it, people have slow attention spans, but this was honestly too fast for my liking. Speaking of which, remember that awesome action scene? Well forget about that for just a sec, because I remember a scene towards the end of the film that took place on a bus, and it reminded me of the typical jumpcutty bullcrap that’s been seen a lot in recent action flicks. One moment we’re here! One moment we’re there! One moment we’re flying everywhere! It’s like the world’s worst Dr. Seuss book!

And of course, I should not go without mentioning one other thing, this movie has the same curse some other films manage to have. It’s a January movie! Honestly, this crap feels like it belongs in that month, it is one of the few months that many general audiences are not focused on new movies, even though “Bad Boys for Life” grossed a ridiculous amount of money for a January flick this year, surpassing 2009’s “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” by over double its total worldwide. Note, “American Sniper” came out in January 2015 and earned more money than both movies, but it does not count, considering how the movie was screened in a limited run since December 2014. Speaking of box office achievements, “The Rhythm Section” has the *honor* of earning the worst weekend for a wide release movie playing on over 3,000 screens. In fact, in just a couple weeks, that screen count dropped to just double digits! The film also brought in just short of $6 million worldwide! When your film has a budget of $50 million, this is a definite failure. And I know 2020 sucks for everyone right now, unless you’re a higher-up at Amazon, you work for Charmin’, or if you are an introvert who likes staying home all day, but this sort of makes me wonder how Paramount’s 2020 has been going since the beginning.

Well, at least “Mission: Impossible 7” is back in production.

Nevertheless, this feels like it deserves a January spot on the calendar, not only in terms of quality, but in terms of content. A lot of it either feels cliche, cold, or something that could easily be tuned out. This may also not be the easiest movie to market either. I’m not sure how popular the book is, so I guess the easiest way to tell is to find out how many people in the world have read the source material.

The actors are alright in this movie, and I will say, whoever the makeup and hairstyling crew for this movie happens to be, they deserve a thumbs up because Blake Lively looks the part. She comes off as a woman who really has seen some s*it in her life, and her hairstyle projects that idea to me. Unfortunately, some halfway decent acting could not contribute to a halfway decent movie. I don’t feel like I’ll remember most of the characters, the happenings, the movie as a whole. It’ll probably be a blur at some point. Technically speaking, it’s very hit or miss. I don’t see myself watching this movie in the near future even as background noise.

I don’t want to end this review too harshly, after all, even though I’ve been bogging the screenplay, because it is admittedly boring and nowhere near satisfying, it is also Mark Burnell’s debut, so I’ll cut him some slack here. In fact, he’s got another project lined up, so maybe he’ll knock it out of the park next time, maybe even learn from some flaws here. Unfortunately it’s based on another one of his books so… We’ll see. Burnell, if you are reading this and want my recommendation, get another guy who is well versed in screenwriting to collaborate with you. Maybe you can still go with your vision, but I think a voice of experience would be helpful in a case like this. The movie’s still in pre-production… Maybe there’s time for another draft? I don’t know.

In the end, “The Rhythm Section” unfortunately did not make its money back at the box office, but nevertheless robbed me of $12.99 that I ended up paying for the Blu-ray. Granted, that’s a cheap price for a fairly new release, but nevertheless. This movie feels like alcohol. Only I didn’t drink it to forget something, instead the alcohol leaped off the screen and slowly poured itself down my throat. I do not feel like I’ll remember this movie that well. If you want a good revenge movie, just go watch “Taken,” go watch “John Wick,” they’re much more worth your time. Even the “John Wick” sequels are better than this! I’m going to give “The Rhythm Section” a 4/10.

Thanks for reading this review! If you want to see a review for a much better movie, be sure to check out my review for “Tenet!” Big movies are back, baby! This is what I’m talking about! I wanted to watch “Bill & Ted Face the Music” this past weekend, as it was playing in some theaters (although it was available on VOD too), but unfortunately I just couldn’t find time to do it. So, if I have the motivation for either format this upcoming weekend, I will probably check that movie out. What else am I gonna watch this weekend? “The Broken Hearts Gallery?” I like one of the actresses in it… But, what else does it have to offer? Maybe I’ll get a last minute A-List screening or something, I dunno. Be sure to follow Scene Before either with an email or WordPress account so you can stay tuned for more great content! Also, check out my Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “The Rhythm Section?” Or did you contribute to its unfortunate records? What did you think about the movie if you saw it? Or, what is your favorite movie with Blake Lively in it? Let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!