User reviews

This independent drama on the effects of gentrification in San Francisco played to strong reviews at Sundance. It's also distributed by A24, and their films are generally very high-quality. Judging from its trailer, the film looked to be a mix of understatedly beautiful aesthetics (including some extraordinary cinematography of the Bay Area,) searing character drama, and social commentary. The film is generally well-made, and some aspects of it are undeniably impressive for a directorial debut.

The plot follows a man named Jimmie, whose grandfather built a house in San Francisco on land he purchased during World War II. Today, Jimmie wishes to live in this spacious Victorian house, but its market value has skyrocketed due to gentrification of the neighborhood (and nearby neighborhoods) near where it is located. He begins to develop a scheme with his best friend to move into the house. The film's cinematography is exceptional, and manages to juxtapose both realism and romanticism in terms of how it depicts both the ideals and the realities of San Francisco residents today. Some of the film's shots may remind viewers of Spike Lee's early films, but the film's aesthetic always feels wholly original at the end of the day. The film also uses a variety of other visual and narrative tricks, such as a tableaux vivant-style scene, to help convey the points it is trying to make on how gentrification is affecting relationships between people in urban areas today, much less exacerbating social inequality. The film's simple score is beautiful and almost haunting at times in terms of its elegance and emotional power. The performances in the film are generally strong, as the almost laid-back method acting of the two leads is thoughtful and impactful in its sheer simplicity.

Despite the film's clear achievements on a technical and narrative level that intersects strong performances with aesthetics, "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" isn't perfect. The film doesn't have too many key plot points, which would normally be okay given the film's understated tone. However, the film does feel rather drawn-out in that the narrative doesn't always impact even scenes in which the director is trying to promote substance over style. The narrative's climax is also a bit disappointing. It lacks a clear transition both preceding it and after it, and doesn't quite pack the impact on a viewer in which a film's climax should. That said, the ending is generally satisfying. Also, the film's social commentary is a bit of a mixed bag in that it shows the ways in which gentrification has affected San Francisco--yet it manages to reduce supporting characters both benefitting from and greatly harmed by gentrification to almost caricatures. As a result, the film's messaging on the perils of gentrification in cities comes up just a little short, and clearly falls below the effectiveness of social commentary in films like "Get Out." That said, there's definitely plenty to like about this indie drama. Generally recommended. 7/10

This movie is beautifully made, shot and acted. There's a good deal of comedy here. The City is a character and breathes in a way not shown before on film. It's the small places shown, the neighborhoods that don't make it into other movies, the light and the cold. The sense of longing is strong in this film. The characters, all of whom are a bit off, long for a stability that isn't there, but that they all hope for and work towards. This is a movie about people who are being crushed in a variety of ways by the workings of capitalism and keep struggling forward. It's not a political movie or an obnoxious "message" movie. Nothing to hit you over the head. It just shows you folks. This is a love letter to a city that ain't there anymore. A place where I grew up but am a stranger. Where the homes I grew up and played baseball in the streets in front of, no one let's kids play in the street in front of anymore. The kids like the housed are too expensive.

This movie began as a joke between friends...then those friends: Director Joe Talbot and lead actor Jimmie Fails worked on this project unofficially for 10 years. Each scene is thoroughly orchestrated, nothing is rushed in this film. Nuanced themes are pervasive throughout this visually beautiful movie. I do not believe a movie based in Hollywood could acheive the things this movie has. It is a masterful portait of delusions, the transitory nature of ownership, gentrification, friendship, growth, masculinity, the growing pains of the life, the City as a whole and much more. I give it 10 stars for the fact that I do not believe there was any room for improvement. A new classic.

Wow. I had high hopes for this movie when I saw the trailer, and for once in my life, my expectations were exceeded. I cannot stress enough how beautiful this film is. Try to watch it in theatres if you get the chance because the cinematography is breathtaking. The film created such a dreamy atmoshpere while simultaneously mainting a harsh realism about life in San Francisco. Meanwhile, numerous human themes are explored, including masculinity, racial stereotypes, friendship, gentrification, class, etc. I also commend both Jonathan Majors and Jimmie Smalls (hopefully I spelled correctly) on amazing performances. Smalls' displays more subtle emotion, while Majors shocks you with an Oscar-worthy performance that packs so much emotion. I just wanted to cry the entire time. Sometimes because of the sheer beauty of what was on screen. Everything is enhanced by the brilliant score. I'm done raving, but please do yourself a favor and go watch this movie.

My wife and I watched this at home via Amazon Prime streaming movies. Quite different from most movies, some parts I didn't like, especially when there was lots of screaming or street arguments among the street guys. However the core of the story, involving a young black man longing to reassemble his family after earlier being evicted, is done very well.

We see on the news frequently that the high cost of housing in San Francisco continues to create problems and this story builds on that realism.

Jimmie Fails wrote and starts as himself, Jimmie Fails. This is his story, their former home in San Francisco was built in 1946 by his grandfather and he continues to visit it, even care for parts of it, even though a family now lives in it. He holds out hopes that he can get it back, but it is probably worth $4Million now. But we gradually find that his is a false memory, and his attachment to it is on shaky ground.

In an interview Fails states, "It's actually more a story about family, the fleeting nature of love and happiness, and fighting to find one's place in an evolving world. When I lost my house, which is what happens in the movie, it wasn't at all because of gentrification, it is about San Francisco changing, but that's not what we set out to make a film about."

Very interesting movie, some will like it while others might find it much ado about very little, or maybe just a slice of life of a black person in San Francisco constantly struggling to find a worthwhile life.

Beautifully shot, earnestly acted, effectively melancholy, with a plot that's pretty refreshing, featuring a handful of really strong scenes... but unfortunately as a whole the movie still manages to be quite boring to sit through.

This one strikes two big nerves: the crisis of gentrification and displacement happening in San Francisco and other cities across the country; and the general absence in most movies of nuanced presentations of Black masculinity. "The Last Black Man In San Francisco" scores in both cases. It's a beautiful, moving portrait of friendship and a gut-wrenching story of loss. It does what indie films are supposed to do: make us see things differently. The score is gorgeous. The acting, by pros and amateurs, is excellent. (Jonathan Majors is a standout. And check our Rob Morgan's scene.) Above all the movie is different. Unlike just about anything you've ever seen. Quirky, pensive, angry, melancholic. And despite it's sadness, somehow hopeful. Director Joe Talbot and lead actor Jimmie Fails deliver!

The cinematography was stunningly beautiful and the music was also pleasing to the ear. I even found the melancholic atmosphere of the film to be cozy at times. However, I just couldn't stand the story and the portrayal of the lead character which were simply unrealistic and implausible. I understand that this was a house he had grown up in. It was also a special house because he believes that the it had been built by his grandfather. But that doesn't give him the right to just move in unlawfully and pretend that he owns it. He acts like a little kid claiming someone else's toys as his. Or perhaps, none of these "little things" matter if we consider this movie as a modern-day fantasy tale. Or one might have a different impression if you have a special connection for the city of San Francisco. But being a non-native, this movie just didn't work for me. The concept of the movie had its potential but was poorly executed.

This movie may be the best " San Francisco" movie made. Jonathan Majors puts on a show, next to Jimmie Fails playing himself. The two of them are truly entertaining for the entire move. Must see if you like movies.

The cinematography and music feel more San Franciscan than the story.

I had read a review from a gentleman who had said this movie had moved his audience to audible tears and at that point I knew I had to see the movie. It takes quite a bit to make me cry so I took my chances. I was a slobbering mess. I honestly started weeping and I could not stop myself. This film is so special and I can't stress it enough. The fact that it was both a love letter to a friendship and city and that it portrayed two young men as being unique but strong individuals who weren't ridiculously manly was so impressive to me. I won't spoil the film for you but you must see this film, because it's the best I've seen all year. It's beautiful, it's real, it's The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

A+

This is one of those films that feels like it is going get good any minute but... never breaks free. The actors seemed good enough but the story ends up dragging on, so the performances become tiring. If you watch to the end, you may feel exhausted as well as disappointed. At least I did.

Not sure what i missed here, but i didnt get it at all. Boring pace, empty characters, meaningless dialogue and meaningless script/story. But hey, watch it and make your own judgement.

I've been thinking about calling A24 one of the best studios making films today, but it really hit me while watching The Last Black Man in San Francisco. This is a studio that very carefully picks their projects and more often than not, finds great material to release. I now believe they are not just one of the best, but the absolute best of the best, especially when looking at the films released by studios throughout this decade alone. This character study is one of the best films you will see this year.

Jimmie (Jimmie Fails), finding it hard to cope with the fact that the house his grandfather built may be taken away from him, leaving him with nothing, takes it upon himself to find a way to hold onto it. That's the core premise of the movie and with a strong friendship between Jimmie and Montgomery as the backbone of the dramatic aspects, this is a film that places its main character front and center. With a well fleshed out character that has me engaged from start to finish, you've already won me over, but there is so much more to love and admire here.

Adam Newport-Berra is at the helm as the film's cinematographer and I truly believe this has set the standard for the year. I would be absolutely shocked if he doesn't receive a nomination for his work in the coming months. On top of that, being director Joe talbot's first feature film to be released, it goes without saying that he is a filmmaker that's here to stay and I am giving an early prediction that, if not this year, there will be an awards season in the coming years that consistently rave about something he has done. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is littered with talent from top to bottom.

This movie would be a technical achievement in independent cinema regardless of the material being shown on-screen, but the fact that these technical aspects are buoyed by a central performance that truly moved me was another level of special. Actor Jimmie Fails plays a character by the exact same name and there may be personal influences that helped his performance here, but a great performance is a great performance nonetheless and he delivers one of the best I've seen all year so far.

In the end, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a film that takes its time in setting up the scenarios at hand, dives deep, and eventually delivers a very touching conclusion that had me totally invested. With superb direction, camerawork that deserves many awards, a score that soothes the mind as you're watching, and a core performance that elevates the already great material, this is a film that surely can't be missed. This is one of the very best movies I've seen all year.

Stunning visuals, gentle people, pervasive sadness, outstanding performances, geeze, I loved this movie.

As a piece of debut filmmaking and as a love letter to the unique American city of San Francisco, Joe Talbot's dreamlike The Last Black Man in San Francisco offers much for audiences to enjoy as the up and coming director produces a beautiful ode to his every changing hometown, one that is constantly evolving around an every changing cityscape that harbors many stories, secrets and links to the nation's past.

Winning the directing award at last year's Sundance Film Festival and produced by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner's Plan B production company, Last has come from humble beginnings to become one of 2019's most talked about sleeper hits, as Talbot's intimate character study and city examination entails much to be said about the American landscape and its history, all around a likeably slight plot line of Jimmie Fails obsession with restoring an old house in the city built by his grandfather to its former glory.

From the moment we join the film with Fails and Jonathan Major's loyal friend Montgomery Allen listening to an African-American preacher proclaiming in the streets against the backdrop of a fog filled San Francisco backdrop, Talbot is setting the agenda for his unique film that is brilliantly captured by DOP Adam Newport-Berra and memorably scored by Emile Mosseri, helping ensure that Last has a style and substance all of its own to be enjoyed by cinephiles enjoying its oddball delights.

There's a tone and feel to the film that's not dissimilar to a Spike Jonze or Michel Gonroy picture, and while the film has a whole may not end up as fully formed as the best of those directors works, it's great to see original filmmaking alive and well in the Hollywood system, that has seen a resurgence this year and last of the smaller character driven films that have shown they can compete in a market place filled with remakes, redo's and big budget failures.

Key to the films enjoyment outside of the vibe Talbot manages to create is the performances of Fails and Major's who both excel in their respective roles as men lost within a city they no longer fully understand.

Fails in particular is awards worthy as his namesake, a man driven close to insanity by an insatiable quest to reclaim a piece of his and his cities history, it's a fully formed performance by the up and coming star who shines in a cast that also features neat small-scale turns by the likes of Danny Glover as Allen's elderly relative and Mike Epps as a local street hood Bobby.

It's a shame the film loses some of its energy and verve in a more middling middle section but bookended by a fantastic opening act and a generally moving finale, Last is a strong contributor to a top class collection of independent films that are making their marks at the end of year awards seasons.

Final Say -

An original piece of American filmmaking, The Last Black Man in San Francisco carves out a unique identity for itself as it lovingly pays tribute to the city in which it is based and puts director Joe Talbot's name up as one of the up and coming directors to keep a very close eye on.

3 ½ skateboard rides out of 5

The trailer for this movie (which is in itself a wonder) set up some expectations for me, and they were met: it's a melancholy film about a black man feeling pushed away from the city he loves. But the movie is so much something more that I'm still reflecting on it three days after viewing. The film is gentle and expansive, anything but divisive or self-pitying: a celebration of the unique, oddball, all-embracing quirkiness that San Francisco inspires and cultivates. It's just as much about a friendship between black men that endures because of San Francisco's peculiarly protective cover. I came away moved by the friendship story - the kind of friendship that the film itself suggests changes lives and can survive gentrification.

The trailer promises visual beauty and the film delivers, coming as close as a movie can to diagramming the cool, foggy spell San Francisco can cast - but the images on the screen are there to both break a heart and to inspire hope.

And man, are these images beautiful! This movie is a natural addition to the ranks of "Vertigo," "Bullitt," "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Tales of the City" - movies that lean on SF as more than a backdrop, but indeed as a co-star. It all works to underscore why the hero (Jimmie Fails, playing himself) is so compulsively distracted by, even focused on, his unsettled business with his hometown. Set to a dreamy score by Emile Mosseri and Michael Marshall's cover of "If You're Going to San Francisco," there are moments in the movie that well up and stir; that are flat out unforgettable.

I saw this movie when it came out, and I really wanted to like it because it is so rare to see Black actors on the big screen who are not playing a negative stereotype !

It was a slow film, which is fine, however, it just didn't get any better, and I really didn't understand the point of the film.

The movie had potential and though it got close to making a powerful breakthrough a few times, it just never go there, so I was left feeling disappoined.

An artsy movie. Very good story, script, and plot. Excellent cinematography, really shows the beauty of San Francisco. Excellent message on gentrification, homelessness, and love. Very good believable acting. The pacing was a little slow, but overall a very good movie. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

I really wanted to like this film but at times I found it hard to hold my attention, however, there is still much to savour. It's a love letter to San Francisco, but also a real life take of how time and gentrification is changing cities and populations. Jimmie Fails and Jonathan Majors are great as the two men trying to hold on to an old property and looking for a way forward for themselves too; it's directed by Joe Talbot in a lyrical poetic style which is often marvellous, but the script and narrative is sometimes annoying and even pretentious, and even a little unbelievable too. That said, there is much to admire.

The writing, acting, cinematography, and music made this movie an excellent watch. The writers captured the true essence of living in San Francisco, from the depths of the Tenderloin to the Uber wealthy Pacific Heights neighborhood, the film portrayed a gritty and complicated city to live in, affected tremendously by gentrification and generational wealth disparity. The acting was superb from both lead actors, who showed tremendous range from scene to scene and created characters the audience connected and empathized with. If you live or plan to live in San Francisco, this is a must watch! Bravo!

Top 10 worst movie I have seen. Thought it would never end.