2.5/5
Written by Luke Barnes
I had heard a lot about The Last Black Man In San Francisco from the festival circuit several years ago, but for one reason or another I never watched it; anyway recently I bought it on DVD and corrected that mistake.
I am very mixed on this film. I did not like the style or a lot of its more arty moments: personally I thought they cut away a bit too much from the real human heart and struggle of the film. By the end of the film the style and the artsy cutaways had almost become a barrier between you and the characters.
I think both the leads were simply terrific, with perhaps Johnathan Majors just stealing the top spot. I thought they both created these very deep and layered characters who were fun to explore and get to know over the course of the film’s runtime. Moreover, I thought the emotional journey they went on during the film was nothing short of beautiful and I would have liked further character exploration.
The ending left me cold. I understand why it happened from a storytelling point of view, but I feel like the execution of the scene could have been done better thereby giving it more of an impact on the viewer.
Overall, great performances struggle against tone and pace and eventually cancel each other out.
Pros
The acting
The emotion
Cons.
The style and the artsy elements
The ending
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