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BlacKkKlansman
(Focus Features/Legendary Pictures)
By Lucas Allen
Winner of the 2018 Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee’s newest drama, “BlacKkKlansman” is a timely story of racial indifference and justice, which plays well with today’s current events and with which audiences can identify.
The director of “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” (who he also co-wrote and co-produced with Oscar winner Jordan Peele), Lee has a way of using his movies to speak up and be heard. Whether or not you agree with his filmmaking, you have to respect him for giving us an outrageous true story we’ve never heard of.
In the 1970s, Ron Stallworth (John David-Washington, son of Denzel) became the first African-American cop on the Colorado Springs Police Department. Naturally, he has a hard time working his way up when he’s relegated to a desk job. But opportunity comes knocking when he’s assigned to go undercover at a Black Panther rally, where he meets a member, Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), and they soon develop a relationship.
Afterwards, he teams up with a Jewish cop named Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) for a different kind of undercover operation. Ron calls the local Ku Klux Klan chapter as himself (in a white guy voice) to become part of the group and then Flip (using Ron’s name) will be the one infiltrating, while digging up dirt on what they’re doing. The plan seems to be running smoothly with Flip (as Ron) already impressing the chapter’s president (Ryan Eggold) and grand wizard David Duke (Topher Grace) as the new member.
The case soon starts to reveal a devious plan the groupis developing. They’re going to use explosives and automatic weapons to try to destroy the Black Panther group by taking the lives of Patrice and others. Worse of all, one of the Klan members, Felix (Jasper Paakkonen), starts to suspect the ruse and threatens to blow the cops’ cover.
Taken from Stallworth’s 2014 memoir, the movie is both a buddy-cop movie and a serious indictment on racism in America. Lee isn’t afraid to pull open the curtain on the issues that give the viewer something to think about while still being entertained by the real life events in the plot. Some of it is genuinely dark, but some funny bits are sprinkled throughout for some wanted levity.
The director knows how to turn some heads with his movies while making them entertaining at the same time. But while the main part of the movie is quite good in its own way, the way Lee opens and closes the film is a bit baffling. It opens with a cameo from Alec Baldwin as a fictional doctor promoting the Klan and it ends with footage from last year’s Charlottesville riots as a way to make a political statement. It’s understandable what he’s trying to say, but it might have some people reacting to it differently.
But if you can get past the bookends, you’ll still find yourself enjoying the film. Lee also put together a perfect ensemble cast for this true story of what amounts to be one of the greatest pranks ever pulled off. Young Washington in particular is a revelation in his breakthrough role, displaying some of his father’s charm and likable charisma.
Driver is also great as a cop willing to risk his life for a dangerous operation. There are also some over-the-top performances by some of the actors playing the Klan members, exactly what you might expect from a movie like this.
No matter how much of a fan you are of the director’s work, Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” has the potential to become a new classic in his ever-growing filmography. It’s sure to be talked about among those who’ve seen and maybe get recognized come awards season. If you’ve heard about it from anywhere, it’s worth seeing on the big screen.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material and some sexual references)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
