An overtly political movie that is in equal parts thrilling and thought-provoking

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2018)

Blackkklansman is unambiguous about its social message, but delivers it through a drama where the stakes continue to raise throughout the movie. While it may have been a little too on the nose about its emphasis throughout, I loved the way Lee tied the film events back to present day at the end. The arc of the movie was very well done - what's a small phone call at first spirals deeper and deeper into thrilling, high-drama situations. The tension was truly at its peak during the dinner and road sequences, a great culmination of the investment the undercover officers put into their bold investigation. Adam Driver clearly had the performance of the movie for me - despite a very subdued performance, he manages to inject thought and emotion into several scenes and does a great job in his undercover scenes. The humor didn't land as much for me as for others - most of the jokes were just plays on a black guy calling David Duke and acting like a white guy, which lost its amusement after the first couple calls for me. The romance between Ron and Patrice felt very forced and their conversations just didn't hold any interest, as Patrice felt more extreme than needed and Ron was very obvious about being a cop and not just saying he supports the cause. The frustration between them felt unnecessary. It was also a bit jarring to watch the juxtaposition of the extreme nature of the KKK's hatred with Ron and the black power movement, though that is intentional and central to the film. A few minor scenes felt a bit overly scripted or dramatized, particularly Ron being assigned to be Duke's security detail (why would they actually give him that assignment), Ron grabbing their shoulders in the picture (why would he do that?), and Felix knowing about Ron's identity but subtly bringing it into a conversation rather than telling Duke what's going on, and then Felix being called out of the room just as he's bringing it up. For all its criticisms of heavy-handedness, this is a topic that should be handled with extremity and no ambiguity, so Lee's demonstration of racism within the context of an exciting movie that's also a crazy true story is a testament to his success as a director.