Adapted from Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, Cord Jefferson’s feature debut is both a satirical comedy and an sinewy family drama in the American tradition of Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. The foreground themes, and the source of most of the humour, concern the monetisation of cultural stereotypes and the grasping ambition of the publishing industry. The background themes concern the anxieties of high-achieving black professionals and the challenges of keeping families together.
This could easily have been little more than a comedy – maybe a vehicle for someone like Chris Rock – but Jefferson weaves the tale of Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison’s transformation, from a respected but poorly remunerated author of serious fiction into the pseudonymous “ghetto voice” of Stagg R. Leigh, with a complex back-story that touches on sibling rivalry, sexual honesty and the challenges of dementia. At the heart of the film, Jeffrey Wright gives arguably the best performance of his career.
As the musical motif of the protagonist’s multiple names suggests, this is a Jazz-inflected work that modulates between the different modes of comedy and tragedy, and one not afraid of experimenting with alternate takes. It’s also a work happy to move between different art-forms, from the metatextual treatment of book production to the equally absurd making of films, and it’s not above poking fun at the business of awards, despite being nominated for 5 Oscars.
“[Cord Jefferson has] crafted a showcase for one of the greatest working actors today, melded Swiftian commentary with a tender look at family dynamics, and thread his own singular voice throughout. If this is his first film, you can only imagine where he goes from here.” David Fear, Rolling Stone.
“Satire is just a wraparound gimmick for a marvelously acted, naturalistic drama about a prickly, privileged Black man and his family, set to Laura Karpman’s tender piano-forward score. The film is radical only in the fact that we haven’t seen many like it.” Amy Nicholson, The New York Times.
