Movie Review: BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Like every other Spike Lee film I’ve seen, this movie is a little sloppy and even a bit uneven, but it’s also incredibly entertaining. The story is really, really strong, and the performances and writing are all great.

The movie is both a comedy and a drama, but it’s essentially based on a true story of a police investigation led by Colorado Springs’s first black policeman, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), into the KKK. He provides the voice on the phone, but for in-person meetings, he calls upon his fellow officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver).

While it is a very funny movie at times, at other times, it’s also quite emotional, and both actors do a great job of capturing that usually without a lot of dialogue. The dialogue we do have is very sharply written, and quite witty.

As I understand it, the most fictional aspect of the movie is the character of Flip. Stallworth did have a partner, of course, but he’s never been named publicly, due to the connections he made undercover. I think making Flip Jewish was a great choice because it gives him a reason to become involved. He doesn’t start too passionate about it, but Driver’s performance is really phenomenal in capturing how he changes.

Anyways, I don’t know if it’s a great movie, but it is a solid one. If I have a complaint, it’s with the direction from Spike Lee. The movie isn’t too heavily stylized, except in a few parts, which are admittedly a lot of fun. But they sort of come out of nowhere. There are a few minutes of the film where it’s trying to almost imitate the blaxploitation style of the ’70s, but because most of the movie isn’t like that, it just feels out of place more than anything. But that didn’t keep me from enjoying it.

Rating: 8/10