Review: The Last Black Man in San Francisco

The Last Black Man in San Francisco, directed by Joe Talbot, tells the tale of Jimmie Fails (Jimmie Fails, playing a fictionalized version of himself), a black man living in San Francisco alongside his best friend Mont (Jonathan Majors) making ends meat while care taking his childhood home built by Jimmie’s grandfather despite losing it a long time ago. But when the current owners of the house lose ownership and move out, Jimmie sees this as an opportunity to reclaim what he lost and live in a city that’s constantly evolving around him.

This is the first film from director Joe Talbot, who also co-wrote with Rob Richert based partly on Jimmie Fails’s life story. Through the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, Fails and Talbot managed to make this film and gain a lot of great buzz from critics at Sundance earlier this year. After seeing the trailer I was looking forward to checking this film out once it runs in a theater near me, and believe me the film was definitely worth the drive. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a truly fantastic accomplishment from someone’s first film and is a front-runner for the best film of 2019.

Everything about this film is just mesmerizing to watch, from its dream-like visuals to its deeply personal writing. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful. It would be an awful shame if this film gets snubbed especially in this aspect. The editing is concise; not a single moment in this film felt slow for me. The film manage to make the most of its two hour run time.

The performances were fantastic all around. Jimmie Fails does a terrific job at acting for the first time, Jonathan Majors gives one of my favorite performances this year so far, and the rest of the cast gives a great performance regardless of how much screen time they had. The writing felt natural, the music is beautifully haunting, the story is simple and easy to follow, the themes and messages were deeply personal if not a bit too obvious and heavy handed, there wasn’t much wrong I found with this movie. This film was certainly an experience you should at least check out at some point in your life.

Overall I fell in love with this film. Every aspect of it was incredibly well thought out and moving. This is an experimental treat for the senses if I ever seen one. If this sounds like a film you would enjoy then please support it and check it out. We don’t get many films like this nowadays, and the filmmakers could use your support so they can continue to make more quality films like this one. As of this review this is currently the best film I’ve seen so far this year, and I highly recommend you check it out.

Final Verdict: 10/10