BlacKkKlansman Review: Spike Lee's funny and honest story of racial divide in the 1970s is rather relevant today

John David Washington as Ron Stallworth, the "Jackie Robinson" of the Colorado Springs Police.

BlacKkKlansman (R)

Directed by Spike Lee

Starring John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Paakonen, Michael Buscemi, Robert John Burke, Corey Hawkins, Ashlee Atkinson, Alec Baldwin

Caution: Some spoilers ahead!

The most surprising thing about Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman is how funny it is. The story about a black police officer in the 1970s infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan doesn't sound like a story you'd normally play up for comedy. However, there are laughs throughout including a triumphant punchline over the phone with David Duke, Grand Wizard of the KKK, which ultimately makes a fool out of him.

The main reason this movie works is because it is played out with sincerity and realism. Once this story got into the hands of Spike Lee you could only imagine what he would do with a weapon like this. He took the surprising route of really digging into the feel of the 1970s and giving this incredibly unique story an honest and believable atmosphere. This is a true return to form for Lee who has proven he still has some strong work ahead to add to his amazing career. And I was happy to see Jordan Peele listed as producer. Peele's Get Out was my favorite film from 2017 and it can certainly be categorized along with BlacKkKlansman.

Zimmerman (Driver) and Stallworth (Washington) marveling Stallworth's
KKK membership card.

The film is an adaptation of the book Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth which is declared in the opening caption of the movie stating the film is "based on some fo' real fo' real shit."

Stallworth (Washington, son of Denzel who played Malcolm X for Lee in 1992) is the first black detective in Colorado Springs. His first assignment has him infiltrating a local rally by civil rights leader Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael played by Hawkins). The rally is put on by the Black Student Union of Colorado University led by Patrice Dumas (Harrier). Stallworth collects reactions of the attendees and also starts a friendship with Dumas.

Stallworth, now in Intelligence, comes across an ad in the paper for interested KKK members. He calls the number and talks to, local chapter president, Walter Breachway (Eggold). By using classic white power sentiments he shares with Breachway his interest in joining the KKK. Breachway claims he's the kind of guy they're looking for and wants to arrange a meeting. Everyone in the police station is staring at Stallworth when he gets off the phone and are quick to point out he used his real name. This mistake is played up for laughs but certainly becomes problematic later.

Fellow detective Flip Zimmerman (Driver) then steps in to become the in-person Ron Stallworth who will meet Breachway and the local chapter members, including the radical Felix and his wife, Connie (Paakonen and Atkinson).

The real Stallworth continues to have phone conversations with Breachway and eventually David Duke (Grace) who he gets in touch with to speed up his membership process. The story moves along at a mild pace but builds to a literally explosive climax.

John David Washington, in a star-making turn, is suave and confident as Ron Stallworth. I look forward to following his career. Adam Driver continues to show his control and range playing Zimmerman as a man who takes on infiltrating the KKK as just another job. Laura Harrier is also memorable as Patrice Dumas. She gives immense depth to a character that could have easily been written off as a caricature of youth fighting for civil rights. Topher Grace plays David Duke as polite and friendly with racism coursing through his veins. Grace could have easily overdone it but kept the performance subtle and human which is eternally important to a story like this.

Topher Grace as David Duke, Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

One of the funniest moments is when the real Stallworth, assigned with security for David Duke's arrival to Colorado Springs, asks for a picture with Duke and right before Zimmerman, the white Ron Stallworth, clicks the photo Stallworth puts his arms around Duke and another KKK member which no doubt pisses off Duke.

There are only three truly definitive Spike Lee scenes in this movie. The first being the opening scene in which Alec Baldwin gives an angry white supremacist monologue with scenes from D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation projected behind him and on his face and body. Then you'll see Lee's brushstrokes throughout the Kwame Ture rally speech in which several student faces are shown in floating, glowing closeups. The last is the Lee classic conveyor belt shot in which characters seem to float toward the camera. I'm not always a fan of this trick, but it's single use in BlacKkKlansman works extremely well.

Other than those specific scenes and techniques the rest of the film is presented in a pretty straight-forward fashion.
The use of Birth of a Nation in the opening scene, and later when KKK members watch it cheering triumphantly at the screen, seems incredibly fitting. Not only is the film infamous for its heavy racism and pro-white propaganda but it is credited for reviving a floundering KKK. Lee ends the film with real-life footage from the far-right rallies and counter protests in Charlottesville, Virginia a year ago. That footage violently connects this story from the 1970s to modern day and in a way can be considered Lee's own form of propaganda. This story is eternally relevant today which Lee is certainly not shy about. Though the film's pace and manner can be described as subtle, its message and purpose certainly art not.

Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) during Spike Lee's lone use of his definitive conveyor belt shot in BlacKkKlansman.