The Last Fall is a independent film directed by Matthew Cherry. It is about a professional football player transitioning to life after the game. Its allot like Love and Basketball meets Any Given Sunday. I enjoyed the myth busting aspect of this movie with regards to a professional athletes actual salary. Unlike other professional sports football players don't get a guaranteed contract. When Kyle Bishop (played by Lance Gross) is cut from his team the situation is very jarring for him. He returns to his hometown embarrassed and broke, his friends are surprised to see him and they are shocked when he is asking for a job.
Directed by Matthew Cherry a former professional football player himself Cherry relocated to Los Angeles and reinvented himself as a filmmaker. He enrolled in Streetlights a non-profit production assistant training program that teaches people of limited means to become production assistants. Cherry began his career on the sets of The Game, Heroes and Girlfriends. The Last Fall was his directorial debut and I find it impressive how Cherry was able to wrangle all these elements in a effective manner.
Watching this movie I felt the protagonist was sympathetic enough for me to root for however I find the ending a bit of a letdown. Spoiler alert the main character has to make a critical decision but the movie ends before he makes it. I can appreciate an opened ended ending but I found it unsatisfying. I would have preferred to see the main character make the tough decision to continue playing football or explore a new life with his college sweetheart. This ending nullifies his previous struggle.
For an independent movie it is unique in that it is largely devoid of racial stereotypes contains little if any profanity or drug use and no nudity. As a first time director this film is a triumph of technique and cinematography. I applaud any minority filmmaker that can get a good movie in the can. I am grading The Last Fall a B+ I look forward to Cherry's next project. 
