Read the book first!

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2019)

To begin, the book, as almost always, is better than the film. This review is for the movie, which I am considering ends at the cross burning. The footage at the end is amazing, powerful, and indicting, but not part of the movie proper, in my opinion. To which -
The movie is ok. It doesn't really deal with the actual plot of the title until about a half an hour in, which didn't really make sense to me. The speech at the beginning is awesome, but has very little to do with Stallworth's overall investigation. And with all the new pieces the filmmaker added to the plot, the actual investigation itself seems watered down in here. Even the great scene with Harry Belafonte juxtaposed with the KKK ceremony feels like a separate event than the investigation. The movie just stops to let these amazing speeches occur, and I wish they had their own, separate, spotlight. In my opinion.
Just like the ending news footage. Watching the real David Duke, the horrible Donald Trump, and the footage from Charlottesville slam home that the KKK and their kind are still here, and very much alive! I cried at the end. It just felt that though it all is connected by the same message, it wasn't part of the movie. Just my opinion.
Also kudos to Mr. Lee for NOT being in the film. He is such a bad actor, and I'm glad he was able to stay out of this one. Conversely, shame on him for using that horrible film technique of his, where the character(s) seem to be on a dolly and moving forward in a type of slow motion. It still sucks, no matter how many years he's used it.