I really wanted to love AMERICAN FICTION as the trailer was terrific. But I was amazed at how flat it turned out to be. The majority of the film is a boring and unconvincing bourgeois family drama. Even the satirical elements prove heavy-handed. That it's nevertheless bound to win a screenplay Oscar is indicative of how far standards have dropped. Forty-one years ago TOOTISE -- similar in that it's about an artist hiding in a false identity; dissimilar in that it's witty and focused -- was nominated but lost out (to E.T.).
The latest releases from Buysoundtrax and their associated labels include GOLIATH AWAITS, Morton Stevens' score for the 1981 two-part TV movie about the discovery of survivors living in an ocean liner decades after its sinking, starring Mark Harmon and Christopher Lee
I didn't find American Fiction to be flat, though I do confess the trailer had me sold on it being a hilarious comedy when instead it turned out to be centered even more on a rather emotional family drama. For me it threaded the needle fine most of the way, but I was disappointed in the ending. I wanted to find out what ACTUALLY happened to the characters I'd gotten so invested in, and instead it delivered some punchlines that I found unsatisfying at that point. My wife loved the whole thing, though.
