compelling story

Rating: 7/10 (4 November 2018)

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first black police officer in 1970's Colorado Springs, Colorado. He faces racism in the department and is eager to go undercover. His first assignment is to attend a speech by a former Black Panther. He starts dating Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), the president of the Black Student Union. After reading an ad in the newspaper, he calls up the KKK to apply for membership. He is readily accepted by local leader Walter Breachway (Ryan Eggold) with only one problem. He can't meet Breachway face to face. He recruits Detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to be the face while he provides the voice. Eventually, he would even connect with Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace).
Flip's infiltration into the local KKK is compelling. It seems immediately stupid that Ron continues to do the calls. It's not a carefully conceived investigation. Also the third act bombing is too conveniently staged. It needs to be more realistic and more messy. It wraps up too neatly. There are aspects that feels too artificial which detracts from the tension. The subject matter requires the movie to be more real. At times, Spike Lee pushes into satire territories but nevertheless, it is still one of his better recent movies.