Spike Lee's timely political movie

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2018)

"BlacKkKlansman" (2018 release; 135 min,) brings the (true) story of Ron Stllworth. As the movie opens, we get a clip from Gone With the Wind, the famous scene where Scarlett walks among the hundreds, if not thousands of wounded soldiers, with the camera eventually catching the Confederate flag. After that, we are introduced to Ron Stallworth, an African-American interviewing for, and getting, a job on the Colorado Springs Police Department, the first African-American to do so (we are in 1974, as we see "Re-elect Nixon" signs). The Department is blatantly racist on many levels. After a rough start, Stallworth asks, and gets, to be assigned as an undercover cop. Then one day, he sees an ad for the local chapter of the KKK in the local newspaper, and decides to call the telephone number in the ad. Much to his surprise, he makes headway in the KKK's local chapter... At this time we are less than 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: writer-director Spike Lee has known many ups and downs in his 3+ decade career, and this surely is one of the ups. Taking an obscure fait diver from 40+ years ago (a back man infiltrating the KKK!), Lee builds it into a timely political movie about today's leadership in Washington. Yes, let's just say it: David Duke, featured prominently, is projected as a precursor of the current POTUS. "Make America great again!", and later "America first" are used in the film. If it looks a bit heavy-handed, it frankly is. The movie benefits greatly from the charming performances by its leads, John David Washington as Ron Stallworth and Adam Driver as fellow undercover cop Flip Zimmerman (and stand-in Ron Stallworth). Laura Harrier has a breakout performance as Stallworth's romantic interest. On the negative side, the movie's running time is way, way too long (by a good 20-30 min.). Yet all that said, none of this would matter if it weren't for the last 5 min. of the movie, which all brings it home so pointedly (no worries, I won't spoil). You could hear a pin drop in the theater where I saw this during the movie's conclusion...
"BlacKkKlansman" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival to immediate acclaim (it won the Grand Prix), and was released wide this weekend. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was PACKED. Given the inherently controversial nature of this film, I have no idea whether this will be a box office smash, but that isn't even the main point. If you have any interest it the racial divide that exists in this country, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.