BlacKkKlansman - Movie Review

I like the sort of based on a true story stories that seem incredible. BlacKkKlansman is one of those films. Who would ever believe that the Klan was infiltrated by a black detective? But it happened. I was looking forward to Spike Lee's film documenting the event, but felt the film got sidetracked at the end. Spike Lee never shies away from picking a political fight, but he did it at the expense of an otherwise solid film. And he ends the film in a way that causes me to give a rare non-recommendation to a film that was otherwise above average.

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) became the first black officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado during the turbulent 1970s. When the black power movement hits Colorado Springs, the rookie officer is moved to the police intelligence unit in order to infiltrate the black student group that has sponsored a black panther to deliver a speech. After gathering intelligence on the meeting, Stallworth decided to contact the local chapter of the KKK to seek membership. After speaking with the local president, Walter (Ryan Eggold), Stallworth is invited to an in-person meeting. Obviously unable to make that meeting himself, Stallworth enlists the assistance of narcotics detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver).

The pair tag team discussions and meetings with the KKK going so far as to interact with the national director of the organization, David Duke (Topher Grace). Stallworth serves as Duke's personal body guard when he visits Colorado Springs to baptize new members, to include his partner. The story takes a dark turn when one of the chapter members obtains C-4 which he intends to have his wife plant to firebomb the leader of the local black students union, Patrice (Laura Harrier). Patrice also happens to be Stallworth's love interest. The escalating rhetoric of the local Klan leads to a violent ending and the culmination of the investigation, leaving Stallworth to consider what he should do next.

Quite a bit of this film tracked Stallworth's memoirs and are as accurate as his own telling of the story. I am not sure how much of that has been fact-checked, but the story is compelling. The story was compelling without the fabricated violence or the dichotomy of power struggles depicted in the film. The film seemed driven to draw parallels to the Charlottesville demonstrations that ended with the death of a demonstrator. The film had interesting characters, a great premise and good pacing. However, the film went off the rails with the political allegories that seemed to suggest that Trump is a racist.

The film finishes in Charlottesville, where the violence of a white supremacist is chronicled in all its abhorrent violence. After alluding to Trump several times in the film, Spike Lee comes straight out with his hatred of the President by showing the president appearing to equivocate on Charlottesville. Trump did equivocate on Charlottesville, that's a fact. But Lee chose not to address the equivocation fairly, making it appear that the violence actually was one-sided. It most certainly was not. Antifa is notoriously violent and Charlottesville was no exception. If you want to address hatred and use film as a teachable moment you cannot turn a blind eye to violence you condone. Your message of anti-hatred is lost when you are selective in the hatred you condemn. Lee lost me completely at the end of the film when he depicted the American flag upside down.

Frankly, I am tired of the American flag being dragged into everyone's political statements. I have a son serving under that flag in Afghanistan. I am a veteran as well. White racists can use the confederate flag or the Nazi flag or whatever ignorant symbol they want to deploy. I really don't like to see them standing under the same flag I served. Although I seldom see them burning it or stepping on it, just holding it is disrespectful to me. But it is more disrespectful to burn the flag or depict it upside down. There was no need for that. It was a poke in the eye to all the men and women who have given their lives so Spike Lee can enjoy the freedom to make millions of dollars in a capitalist system. A system that even rewards people who seem to despise it. Sorry Spike, provocation has a time and place. You overplayed your hand. Had the film made the subtle allegories to the president and left it at that, I would be recommending it anyway. Spike went with the heavy hand, making this film a propaganda piece when it was actually a decent bit of cinema.

I like Adam Driver. He has been getting a lot of work for a guy that lacks the Brad Pitt look that Hollywood tends to favor. He was a good counterpoint to John David Washington who was credible as a rookie cop who quickly rises to the intelligence unit in an otherwise lily-white police department. Good writing and sharp delivery made for a character that seemed capable of navigating the minefield of department politics. The casting was solid.

BlacKkKlansman is rated R by the MPAA. The film has strong language and adult themes. The film didn't have a great deal of violence, but there was a violent scene near the end, talk of violence and actual footage from Charlottesville where a car plows into a crowd of protestors. The real life footage is chilling to watch. It is a reminder of what hate is capable of. It is a reminder that we shouldn't be blind to the hatred regardless of who is perpetrating it. The film has strong thematic elements that deal with racism that may be difficult for younger viewers to comprehend. I would suggest a teen audience or better. This film has a lengthy run time of two hours, fifteen minutes.

I am giving BlacKkKlansman a solid non-recommendation. The film would have been solid had it not become propaganda. A message that was intended to be anti-hate became clouded by Spike Lee's personal politics. He chose to make his film seem like a vendetta between himself and the president rather than making it all-encompassing. It was an opportunity missed. But it goes to show how inflamed issues like this can become. Rather than staying on the neutral path, Lee was pulled into the fray and failed to rise above the polarization that divides America. He became part of the hate while preaching against it. That makes him a hypocrite when he could have been a hero. It is sad that he chose to cater to a political cause rather than sticking to good cinema. Because this film was otherwise pretty damn good. 5/10.

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