Bob usually orders science fiction, superhero, or post-Apocalyptic horror for Movie Night, so when I saw the Blu-Ray title The Last Black Man in San Francisco, I thought "future dystopian world". The first scene seems like science fiction: a little girl screams at a man in a hazmat suit while a street preacher yells that black people have been poisoned on purpose. Then two guys ride on a skateboard through a San Francisco where everyone is frozen in place.
But it is actually magic realism, living metaphors. So a naked guy is waiting for a bus, with no comments from passersby. You get off the bus into a cloud of smoke, but there is no fire. . A little girl riding a skateboard morphs into a grown man. A Greek Chorus comments on the action..
Conversations are garbled, or nonsensical, or drowned out by music. Everyone waits 15 beats before saying their next line (I counted), and they stand motionless, staring into space, for such a long time that I checked to see if the Blu-Ray had frozen. The action stands still for a full three minutes while a homeless guy sings the 1960s classic"San Francisco": every word of it, and then starts over.
The protagonists, Jimmie (Jimmie Fails) and Mort (Jonathan Majors), are an unspecified gay couple. They sleep in separate beds, and they never kiss, but otherwise they behave like a romantic couple, and they are treated as a couple by family, friends, bankers, and realtors. Most heterosexual life partners have been friends since childhood, but apparently Jimmie and Mort have only met recently, which is why Jimmie has to introduce Mort to his father, mother, and sister (in separate scenes). Mort's Dad seems to be delighted to have Jimmie move in; he says "I hope I've never done anything to make you feel unwelcome," which you would say to your son's lover but not to his buddy.
More gay couple evidence: They invite Kofi (Jamal Trulove) over for what is apparently a three-way, and hang out in the sauna together.before going to bed.
They never express any interest in girls, nor do any of their friends and family mention girls.
Yet there are no references to gay people in the movie, except for a Pride Flag flying in one scene.
The plot, as far as I could tell from the interminable silences, conversations drowned out by music, and encounters with various bizarre characters, involves a play and a house.
Mont (Jonathan Majors) is working on a play, yelling all the parts in public. It turns out to be a eulogy for Kofi (who was gunned down), with the audience invited to tell some of their favorite memories. I guess this is audience-participation theater.
Interestingly, Jamal Trulove is not a professional actor. He was convicted of murder in 2010 after the police fabricated evidence against him. He served six years in prison before being released on appeal, re-tried, and aquitted. He sued the City of San Francisco, and was awarded $13 million.
Most of the staring and intermittent speaking is about a huge Victorian house in the Fillmore neighborhood, which Jimmie (Jimmie Falls) nonsensically yet adamantly believes was built by his grandfather "with his own two hands" in 1947. When the owner dies, family squabbles lead to the house standing vacant, so Mont and Jimmie move in as squatters. They fix it up, bring in furniture, and announce to all their family and friends that they have "settled down."
The action, such as it is, involves Jimmie trying to keep the house, in spite of the owner's family dropping by and a realtor putting it on the market and depositing their stuff on the sidewalk. Mort knows that Jimmie really doesn't have any right to the house, whether or not his grandfather built it, but he goes along with Jimmie's delusion.
Jimmie Fails, in his big-screen debut, is playing "himself." He spent the first years of his life in a Victorian in the Fillmore owned by his grandfather; then they lost the house, and he spend the remainder of his childhood in foster care. He has been friends with director James Talbot since high school. Since Wikipedia lists under "personal life" only "He live sin San Francisco," I assume that he is gay in real life.
Beefcake: None. Jonathan Majors has a nice physique, but he wears a bathrobe to the sauna (the other two guys are in their underwear, with less impressive physiques). They sleep fully clothed. Mike Epps plays a member of the Greek Chorus, but he is always fully clothed, too.
Other Sights: The house is admittedly elegant.
Gay Characters: During the interminable scenes of the guys staring at each other, I kept saying "Just kiss!" When Mort was asleep while Jimmie lay in the next bed, staring at him, I yelled "Just climb in bed with him. He'll be fine with it!" But they never come out.
My Grade: C