Jeffrey Wright Is Pitch Perfect and Oscar-Worthy in Cord Jefferson’s ‘American Fiction’; Possible TIFF Audience Winner?

With American Fiction, Cord Jefferson, best known for penning television episodes of Succession and Watchmen, helms one of the finest directorial debuts seen since Sam Mendes American Beauty. In the style that feels like an audacious blend of the screenplays of Alexander Paynes Sideways and Nicole Holofceners Can You Ever Forgive Me, he shepherds an audacious dramedy anchored by a career-best and Oscar-worthy performance from star Jeffrey Wright. After debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, its a movie that could be a contender for the coveted TIFF Audience Award, and it would be deserved.

Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, the film follows author Thelonious Monk Ellison (Wright), a frustrated novelist who is fed up with the establishment profiting from Black entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk writes an outlandish Black book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and madness. It is quite a timely topic as Black content continues to face challenges in the entertainment world.

The film also stars Emmy nominee Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Adam Brody, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander and Leslie Uggams.

Wright, 57, has been among the most respected actors for decades. He won a Tony Award for his role as Belize in Tony Kushners masterpiece Angels in America. He reprised the same role for the HBO miniseries adaptation, adding an Emmy Award to his mantle. Hes also picked up additional Emmy noms for HBOs Westworld and Disneys What If?

Like other journeyman actors who garnered recognition late in their careers, such as Richard Jenkins in The Visitor or David Strathairn for Good Night and Good Luck, Wright could find himself in contention for lead actor. His deadpan and perfect comedic timing will simply irresistible, and the Actors Branch could feel the same.

In addition to American Fiction, hell get a boost from his role in Colman Domingos Oscar hopeful Rustin. In George C. Wolfes biopic, Wright plays congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a brief but calculated turn that only aids Domingo in his revelatory performance. Theres only been one time in Oscar history when more than one Black actor that didnt include either Will Smith or Denzel Washington was nominated for the leading prize 2004 with Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) and winner Jamie Foxx (Ray). This could be a year to see the second occurrence.

Jefferson has been beloved in the TV world, winning a WGA prize for penning episodes of Succession in 2020, the same year he won an Emmy for writing the Watchmen episode This Extraordinary Being, which he shared with Damon Lindelof.

A movie about the industry, that plays like it isnt about the industry, is something the Academy will gobble up. Brown and Alexander are superb in their roles, and although short on screentime, they make an indelible impression.

I was also impressed by the crafts, particularly the inventive and whimsical score by Laura Karpman.

If handled and campaigned correctly, it could be an across the board player, and it should be. Jeffersons smart screenplay and intelligent direction add up to a movie that could excite various industry demographics.

The film is distributed by MGM, now a subsidiary of Amazon, which is coming off its best picture nomination for Women Talking (2022), which walked away with the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for its writer and director Sarah Polley.

Lets push this one even further.