Jeffery Wright in a scene from “American Fiction."

Jeffery Wright is on a roll.

This year alone, he has given three fantastic performances, two in supporting roles in “Asteroid City” and “Rustin” and now starring as fed-up writer/writing professor Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in Cord Jefferson’s adaptation “American Fiction.”

Based on Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure,” the new movie follows Wright’s Monk as he becomes ever more frustrated with the publishing industry’s prevalence of picking up work by Black authors that heavily rely on trauma and tropes. In contrast, his work, while brilliant, gets passed by because it isn’t “Black enough,” according to the publishers.

So he parodies that kind of work under a pseudonym, anticipating that it would be so derivative that no one would want it. Instead, a publisher jumps at it offering a multi-million dollar check and The book turns into a movie deal, and there’s much more of Monk and his editor (John Ortiz) trying to keep up the charade.

Running alongside this satire is the much more grounded, but equally as clever story of Monk’s family situation, told as a typical dramedy. The character comes from an economically comfortable Boston family, complete with an impressive Victorian home and live-in housekeeper (Myra Lucretia Taylor), and of course, a beach house.

After a forced leave-of-absence is imposed on Monk from his teaching gig in Southern California, he returns to Boston where he finds his mother (Leslie Uggams) in the early throws of Alzheimer’s. Following the sudden death of his sister, Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross) and the constant flippancy of his newly out brother, Cliff (Sterling K. Brown), he takes up the torch in trying to find a way to care and pay for the care of his quickly ailing mother.

From the first few moments of “American Fiction” we are made instantly aware of Cord Jefferson’s cleverness with the wordplay of this satire that instantly hooks the audience. Wright’s cool and brilliant timing coupled with this fantastic script packs a lot into the film’s nearly two-hour run time.

There is a lot of meta-theatricality at play here, too. We see Monk wrestle with the questions that a lot of writers struggle with, whether to stay true to your art or write something as more of a commodity. And if you do turn toward commodity, isn’t there still artistic merit to be found within it?

We see this question posed throughout the film when Monk encounters the work of Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) who has written a widely acclaimed novel called “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto,” written in first person and a heavily stylized vernacular, despite being authored by an equally privileged woman to Monk.

A brilliant conversation toward the end of the film between Monk and Sintara presses this, and Monk’s assumptions about the work in general, which is equally tense as it is poignant.

The entire cast is impeccably placed, with Wright delivering one of his best roles that is packed with biting humor and deft deepness throughout.

It may be impossible for the actor to deliver a bad performance, but this is really an incredible turn. Brown, Uggams, Ellis Ross and Erika Alexander also bring so much to their respective parts, each of them showcasing another aspect of Wright’s Monk that is explored.

“American Fiction” is an incredibly made adult comedy that you don’t see often anymore. Not “adult” in a raunchy or raucous way, but in a way that begs your intellect to come along for the ride with Jefferson’s impeccable use of wordplay that is not inaccessible but immensely sharp at every turn.

More Information

“American Fiction”

117 minutes

Rated R for language throughout, some drug use, sexual references and brief violence.