Delayed Reaction: The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Premise: A black man looks for a way to take back the house his grandfather built in a neighborhood that has mostly pushed out the non-affluent.

 

There’s a sentimentality in this film that I lack, which affected how I watched this. It’s ultimately a movie about a love of a place. The scene at the end on the bus when Jimmie Fails says “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it” is something I don’t connect at all with. I’ve lived in Louisville my whole life except for college. I like living here. I’ve found the areas of the city I enjoy. I wouldn’t call myself a proud Louisvillian though. I doubt I’d say that about any city I lived in. I’m not a community kind of person, and I don’t mean that in a “I’m a nonconformist” way. I mean, I’m a straight white atheist with no specific cultural history. My parents have no traditions from the old country. There are no communities which I naturally fall into like a church. I say none of this as a complaint. I’m not saying I wish that I had a safe space to celebrate my white guy culture. I’m just explaining where I’m coming from with this movie*.

 

*I think the closest I come is that I’m a Disney World adult. But even with that, I enjoy that there is a Disney World. I don’t get choked up by the founder’s plaque or treat Walt Disney as a folk hero. I’m impressed with Disney World as a product and engineering marvel. It’s a place I enjoy going to not a special or sacred place. I understand my transactional relationship with it.

 

The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a really great movie about San Francisco and the frustration of the people who live there who feel like the city no longer wants them. There’s almost a poetry to the movie that can make it feel like a daydream at times. Jimmie Fails and Jonathan Majors are both great in it. The world of the film is well-observed and lived-in. There’s a tangible difference to a movie where the filmmaker knew the streets of every location before the location scout found them.

 

I liked this movie as much as I could without loving it. So much about this film relies on me being able to relate to “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it” and I can’t quite get to there. I’m like most of the people in the film telling Jimmie it’s just a house. Much of the connection with this film will depend on if you have this brand of sentimentality.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend