Typical Spike Lee movie but a shocking true story! 6/10

Rating: 6/10 (20 February 2019)

Review:
Being a black man, I did find the language in this movie quite disturbing, along with the intense subject matter, but I should have known what to expect from a Spike Lee film. As it's based on true events, I did find the storyline quite shocking, so I was glad to see that Spike Lee added some wit to lighten the mood. With the horrific events that happened during the Unite the Right Tally in 2017, in Charlottesville Virginia, I can't believe that these ignorant individuals still have the same mindset as when this film was based, in 1970. I was impressed with the performances, and Spike Lee captured the period quite well, but it's Ron Stallworth's true story that made the movie entertaining. Anyway, in the early 1970s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), is hired as the first black officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, assigned to work in the records room. He faces racial slurs from his co-workers, so he requests to be transferred to do undercover work. After being turned down, he is assigned to infiltrate a local rally where national civil rights leader Kwame Ture (Corey Hawkins), gives a speech. At the rally, Ron meets Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), president of the black student union at Colorado College. After the rally, Ron is reassigned to the intelligence division. Whilst reading the local paper, he sees an ad about a local division of the Ku Klux Klan, so he calls them, posing as a white person, and he speaks to Walter Breachway (Ryan Eggold), the president of the Colorado Springs chapter. Ron recruits his Jewish coworker, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), to act as him during a meet with the Klan members. Flip meets Walter, the more reckless Felix Kendrickson (Jasper Paakkonen), and Ivanhoe (Paul Walter Hauser), who cryptically refers to an upcoming attack. Ron begins regular phone conversations with Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace), after trying to push forward his Klan membership. Ron begins dating Patrice, but he decides not to tell her that he is a police officer. Meanwhile, Duke visits Colorado Springs for Ron's induction into the Klan, but the Real Ron is assigned to a protection detail for the Duke. While Flip is masquerading as Ron, Felix's wife Connie (Ashlie Atkinson), leaves the ceremony to place a bomb at a civil rights rally. Ron realises her intentions, and he alerts local police officers. When Connie notices a heavy police presence at the rally, she goes to plant the bomb at Patrice's house instead, which was the pre-arranged Plan B. When she is unable to fit the bomb in her mailbox, she puts it on Patrice's car instead, but Ron tackles her as she tries to flee. Whilst trying to detain Connie, Ron is confronted by uniformed police officers, who beat him despite his protest that he is working undercover. Bombmaker Walker (Nicholas Turturro) recognises Flip from a prior arrest, and he goes to trigger the bomb with Felix and Ivanhoe, not realising were Connie hid it, and are killed in the explosion. Flip arrives and frees Ron, and Connie is arrested. Police Chief Bridges (Robert John Duke) congratulates the team for their success but orders them to destroy the records. Ron receives a call from Duke, and he reveals that he is black before hanging up. I liked the tribute to Prince at the end, and you actually get to see the real Ron Stallworth, who talks about the true events in the bonus material. Judging by the average box office takings, I can understand if people would be put off by the subject matter, and the fact that the first few scenes show black people be treated terribly, really is off-putting. Once the undercover action gets going, it does become interesting, and quite amusing in parts, but I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth, especially after seeing the real footage of the Unite the Right Rally. In all, it's worth a watch but you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. Watchable!
Round-Up:
This movie was directed by Spike Lee, who also brought you She's Gotta Have It in 1986, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, He Got Game, Summer Of Sam, 25th Hour, Inside Man, Miracle At St. Anna, Oldboy and Chi-Raq. Personally, I'm not a big fan of his work, mainly because of his controversial directing style which always ends with a debate. Some of his work, like Inside Man, Summer Of Sam and 25th Hour, were straight forward, without a hidden message, so I was actually able to enjoy them but the rest were only worth a one watch. His biggest earner to date was Inside Man, with $88million at the box office, so his movies don't really break records but he's still highly respected, even though he has made some enemies along the way.
Budget: $15million
Worldwide Gross: $90.5million
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, Robert John Burke, Michael Buscemi, Laura Harrier, Jasper Paakkonen, Danny Hoch, Alec Baldwin, Nicholas Turturro, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Brian Tarantina, Ken Garito, Frederick Weller, Corey Hawkins and Harry Belafonte. 6/10