After nearly 35 years in movies, Jeffrey Wright earned his first Oscar nomination for 2023’s American Fiction. He didn’t win – nothing could stop the Oppenheimer juggernaut – but it felt good to see Wright get his due after a long career of strong work.

English professor/novelist Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright) gets critical praise for his work but his books don’t sell. When he sees how stereotypical depictions of violent Black life find a mass audience, he decides to pen a satire of this genre.

However, Monk’s work gets taken seriously and lands him the success he craved. This leads Monk to a crisis of conscience.

In addition, after the sudden death of his sister (Tracee Ellis-Ross), Monk returns to his childhood home to help care for his mother Agnes (Leslie Uggams) as she suffers through mental decline. With the return of estranged brother Cliff (Sterling K. Brown), Monk deals with a mix of family concerns and also launches a romance with a lawyer named Coraline (Erika Alexander).

Earlier I stated that the awards dominance of Oppenheimer dented Wright’s shot at an Oscar, and I think that remains the case. However, another possible obstacle came from another of the Best Actor nominees.

Paul Giamatti got a nod for his work in The Holdovers. I can’t help but think that Giamatti and Wright “cancelled out” each other because Monk seems so much like a typical “Paul Giamatti” role.

This doesn’t mean I believe Wright attempts an impersonation of Giamatti – not at all. Wright brings his own spin and doesn’t come across as a Giamatti clone.

But if you eliminate the racial components, the role of Monk feels like something right in Giamatti’s wheelhouse. Monk comes with the same kind of over-educated arrogance and iffy social skills we saw from Giamatti’s parts in flicks like Holdovers and Sideways.

Monk seems angrier than the usual flummoxed Giamatti role, though Wright doesn’t play him as some sort of raging inferno. Wright brings out the role’s simmering nature well but he also adds dimensionality to the part.

My biggest issue with Fiction comes from its bifurcated nature. Essentially split between Monk’s personal life and his career turn with his “phony book”, the narrative’s dueling sides don’t always connect well.

Really, Fiction can feel like two different movies crammed into one at times. Without question, the half that deals with Monk’s family fares better.

Ironically – and perhaps intentionally – this echoes the film’s theme. With the scenes that feature Monk’s personal life, we find the nuanced depiction of Black life that writer/director Cord Jefferson wants, and the aspects about his career offer the elements audiences have been conditioned to expect.

In a satirical vein, of course, and that becomes too on the nose. Fiction picks easy fights and makes fairly obvious points in these domains.

Yeah, some good comedy results. However, these scenes also turn Fiction into too much of a lecture at times, and its attempts to remind us that too much media focused on “Black life” panders to the lowest common denominator.

Despite these qualms, Fiction’s other half works well enough to balance out the final product. As noted, Wright makes Monk a three-dimensional role despite the potential that he could become a form of caricature in his own right.

Fiction comes with a solid supporting cast too. Brown got an Oscar nomination as Monk’s recently “out” gay brother, and like Wright, he embraces the subtle tones in a character who easily could’ve become one-note.

Some might complain that the movie’s white characters fall into cheap stereotypes, but I suspect that was Jefferson’s point. The movie offers a little bit of “vengeance” for all the trite Black roles over the decades – turnabout is fair play and whatnot.

Yes, the film’s white parts come across as complete parodies. Yes, that’s the point, so even though they can push credulity, these turns fit the flick’s motif.

Ultimately, I think American Fiction struggles to find its identity because its two sides don’t always link well. Nonetheless, it remains a largely effective and enjoyable mix of satire and family drama with a mild comedic edge.

American Fiction appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a satisfactory presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed solid. A couple of wide shots looked a smidgen soft, but those were the exception to the rule, as the majority of the flick was accurate and detailed.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the movie looked consistently clean.

Fiction gave us a palette that mixed light amber and teal. Within those parameters, the hues appeared positive.

Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed good smoothness and clarity. I felt happy with the transfer.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Fiction, it lacked a ton of ambition. The soundfield focused on music and ambience, though it opened up on occasion. Nothing especially memorable occurred, however.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. Music offered good clarity and range, and effects worked well enough.

They didn’t have much to do, but they appeared reasonably accurate. All of this ended up as a perfectly satisfactory soundtrack for this sort of movie.

No extras appear on the Blu-ray.

Despite some inconsistent tonal choices, American Fiction usually works pretty well. It delivers an engaging character drama with a few clever quirks. The Blu-ray brings solid picture and acceptable audio but it lacks bonus features. This winds up as a largely enjoyable piece.