The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Not a lot of people send me requests, the majority of the people who have are people I know, but let it be known that if you send me a request, I will definitely review it. This was one such request from my friend Colin. Thanks for the request.

So the background on this story is actually pretty interesting because the director and the main actor, Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails grew up in San Francisco wanting to make movies and the only reason they were able to get the resources for the film was through a kickstarter and some cited interest from Danny Glover who also plays a role in the film.

The story centers on two friends living in a rough part of San Francisco. One is named Jimmie Fails (played by Fails) and the other is named Mongomery Allen (played by Jonathan Majors). As they're watching their city change through gentrification, they make a routine of fixing up an old Victorian house that Jimmie claims his grandfather built, even though a white couple lives there.

Then one day the house is vacated by the couple and Jimmie and Montgomery see an opportunity to squat in the house and claim it as theirs. What follows is a really interesting, artistic look into the effects of gentrification, as well as a commentary on societal placement.

Now this movie was distributed by A24, which has a reputation of art house films with long drawn out artistic shots, selective dialogue, and subliminal themes and messaging with their films. If that's not your style of film, you're going to struggle getting through this movie. It is very much a slow burn and the first hour takes quite a bit to get going.

I went into this film knowing absolutely nothing. It wasn't until after I was done watching the film that I read up on the background and the fact that it's a semi-biographical story that I fully realized some of the really impactful moments of the film.

This has its pros and cons. On one hand, its hard for an audience to connect with a story if they don't know the context or can't connect with it out of a lack of shared experience. On the other hand, I support any artist who works as hard as these guys did to make their dream project, and this clearly was a deeply personal story.

I also like how the actors that the movie spends the most time on are relatively new actors. Jonathan Majors is really at the start of his career having really only been in major films since 2017, and this is Jimmie Fails first major film role. I think I was most impressed with Jonathan Majors mainly because of the climax of the film. I won't give it away, but Montgomery spends the entire movie being a quiet artist and the end of the movie gives him some of the best dialogue and performances from him and Fails in the final act.

I think the most valuable thing about the movie is the insight into the black experience through the gentrification of a neighborhood. I've had my own differing opinions on the pros and cons of renovating old neighborhoods and the effect that it can have on low income residents who have lived in those neighborhoods for a long time.

I'll let you watch the film yourself and come to your own conclusion on the messaging of the film, but I do appreciate the different perspective that I don't usually get from the films I usually watch. I get the feeling the longer I sit with this film, the more its going to resonate with me, and I gotta give the film credit for that.

Overall, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a well acted unique perspective piece. There were parts of it that were slow, characters who I didn't really see the point of like Mike Epps character, but overall, if you're into slower paced art house films with some subtle commentary, this film is definitely one to check out.

But those are my thoughts on The Last Black Man in San Francisco. I want to thank Colin for the recommendation and if you're interested in recommending a film feel free to leave one in the comment section below! There you can also discuss your thoughts on the film! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!