Beware fiction masquerading as fact.

Rating: 7/10 (31 January 2019)

This is a good movie. It is important to throw a spotlight on our cultural flaws and ingrained pre-judgements of each other. Otherwise. how will we overcome them? It is a good story, incredible in its root in reality. The cast and their performances were good (with the exception of Topher Grace who was horribly miscast). It had some unexpected treasures, like Harry Belafonte as Jerome Turner who mesmerized us with his testimony of brutality. I give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. Does its subject matter alone elevate it to Best Picture (it is nominated in 5 other categories for Oscars, as well)? I'm not sure. MINI RANT - In an age when popular understanding of history is based on the movies people see, I think it is important to point out that if a movie says it is based on actual events, as when a movie says it is based on a book, there is a lot of artistic license taken to shift details around and changes made to make it a good movie, even to the extent that the film is more fiction than fact. I'll give you just three examples from this film, it is based on the 2014 memoir BLACK KLANSMAN by Ron Stallman. The writers moved the story back seven years (1979 to 1972) to facilitate a reference to a number of blaxploitation films. David Duke didn't find out that Stallworth was black until 2006 (27 years later) when called upon by a reporter to comment on these events. The detective who is characterized as Flip Zimmerman was not Jewish, that is a total contrivance of the film. Two other Oscar nominated films, also saying they were based on actual events, THE FAVORITE and MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, are really fiction far from fact. Beware fiction masquerading as fact! END MINI RANT. Fun Fact: Stallman still carries his KKK membership in his wallet. {Crime Drama}