I initially saw and reviewed Joe Talbot’s “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” back at Sundance in January. It was met with uproarious applause at the famous Eccles theater but goddammit if it wasn’t the most overrated movie of the entire festival. Now my fears have been confirmed, the rest of American’s critics, that had yet to have seen the film, have joined the bandwagon for this “woke” movie (which open in theaters this past Friday). A 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 84 on MC. The vast amount of virtue signaling going on right now in film criticism is the reason why this minor work is being hailed and its director deemed to be the second-coming of Spike Lee.
From my original review:
“Aesthetics and substance are two entirely different things in cinema. You could have a film that is bracingly inventive in its visual approach but falls flat in the narrative drama. Ditto the reverse, a visually flat film with a well-realized narrative. The latter is usually worth a recommendation, but the former can be problematic, even when you have a film as visually accomplished as Joe Talbot’s “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.”
“Talbot is a guy that was celebrated to no ends at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and for good reason. He is a major talent to watch. You can just tell there is something special in the way he constructs his shots, using pans, twirls, music and slo-mo to tell his story. His visual eye is an absurd abundance of riches, recalling, and influenced, by Spike Lee. But for all of the camera wizardry, his film is thin and uninvolving.”