Great movie: funny, gripping and thought-provoking

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2019)

Mid-1970s. Ron Stallworth joins the Colorado Springs Police Department, becoming its first African-American officer. After a while he becomes a detective. Then he infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan.
Great movie, directed by Spike Lee. The main part of the story - African-American detective infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan - seems preposterous but is true, being based on Ron Stallworth's book. Spike Lee uses the absurdity of this event to great effect, with many situations that are quite hilarious. The movie could easily have just been a comedy, as Lee keeps the humour coming, and doesn't just rely on the central plot for that.
However, it's far more than a comedy. As a cop-drama it is very interesting too, with an intriguing crime angle and some gripping developments. The conclusion to this feels a bit trite and Hollywoodized, however: in reality Stallworth's investigation did not end so dramatically, or so poetically in its justice.
The social commentary aspect is also, for the most part, well done. The African-American experience is well shown. With regard to the KKK, Lee could easily have drawn the KKK members as one-dimensional, redneck, cartoon-character stereotypes but does a great job at humanising them, plus showing the different types within the KKK: from the stupid and easily lead, to the violent, nothing-is-beyond-them types to the cunning leaders, for whom spreading hate is an industry and a career. Moreover, it's fairly well balanced: Lee doesn't create a black vs white rhetoric but shows that it is racist pockets within society that are to blame.
However, some of the shine does get taken off this objectivity at the end, with Lee trying to draw parallels with current events, and taking aim at current political leaders. While showing that racism and organisations like the KKK still exist and need to be eradicated is a pertinent message, the way it was presented just felt cheap.