'The Last Black Man In San Francisco' A Review

The Last Black Man In San Francisco is an independent drama about two friends Jimmie(Jimmie Fails) and Mont(Jonathan Majors) living in San Francisco dealing with it's rapidly changing socio-economics and Jimmie's attempt to reclaim his childhood home.

Fails, also credited with the story, beautifully plays a fictionalized of himself. Quiet and searching, funny and kind. The performance pairs harmonically with the story and his chemistry with on-screen best friend played by Majors is effortless. Majors plays a bit more of a character, an eccentric playwright/actor with some odd social ticks but equally as compelling. The interplay between the two is so smooth and emotional it really centers the already Atlantic film around them. The supporting cast are equally authentic but the two best friends are the real heart and focus of the film, to its benefit.

Long graceful tracking shots follow Jimmie as he skateboards or he and Mont bus through the city and they show San Francisco in a very real, compelling, and because of the tech industry monopoly it's a city that is quickly disappearing, losing any semblance of culture or identity beyond the hipster yuppie. They are gorgeous(especially the opening) and there are number of set piece scenes(although most of them could be described that way) that are not only crisply, startlingly shot but are totally moving. Mont "directing" a group of arguing locals outside his house, the play that is essentially the films climax, Jimmie meeting with his father in his apartment, Jimmie running into his mother on the bus, a chance encounter with a character played by Thora Birch who may be Enid from Ghost World.

There is a lot of beauty and poetry and joy and sorrow in this utterly surprising and incredibly moving and often hilarious film. The first great film of the year.

Don't Miss It.