BlackkKlansman

Its movies like this that remind me that I need to go out and see more than just the comic book movie of the month in theaters. To be clear, there's nothing extraordinary that makes this movie necessary to watch in theaters, but this is a movie I should have seen a while ago and I'm kicking myself for not doing that.

BlackkKlansman is a biographical drama-comedy about a man named Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington). Stallworth was a real guy who joined the Colorado Springs Police department in the 1970s. He is the first black police officer in the city and he is quickly moved to go undercover. But because its the 1970s and he's the first black officer, he gets sent to gather intelligence on a gathering of the black student union and their guest speaker Stokley Carmichael (played by Corey Hawkins).

Soon after though, Stallworth starts making phone calls and begins conversing with member of the local Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs. He meets the President of the chapter Walter (played by Ryan Eggold), the unhinged racist (I mean they're all very, VERY racist but this guys like super racist Felix (played by Jasper Paakonen), and eventually he starts having one on one phone conversations with the leader of the KKK, David Duke (played by Topher Grace)

Stallworth gains the trust of the chapter and sets up a meeting where his detective partner Philip "Flip" Zimmerman (played by Adam Driver) poses as the white Ron Stallworth.

The entire movie is these twos investigation into the KKK to uncover a potential crime. All the while, Spike Lee preaches a timely message about race wrapped into historical drama/comedy.

And I had A LOT of fun with this movie.

The film rides a pretty fine line of the comedic aspects of this story, of a black man gaslighting the Ku Klux Klan, while still very much addressing some pretty gruesome issues on racism, some of which are still prevalent today and not funny, AT ALL.

One of the biggest things to recognize about this movie is that it's following a true story. I remember hearing stories about this case in college and it is a little bit insane the things in this story that are true, even if you wouldn't believe it.

What I really liked about this movie is that it gave us a buddy cop movie where one of the cops is almost always doing his job from the phone and the other is infiltrating the KKK. But the focus is evenly placed, if not more placed on the main character, Ron Stallworth.

This movie is pretty heavily focused (and rightly so) on the experience of black people and does a lot to properly recognize the historical roots of the struggle  against racism still going on today. However, the interesting thing about the movie is that it does point out the spectrum of both sides. This movie by no means humanizes the klan or really gives any excuse or justification for the Klan (its Spike Lee for gods sake) but it does suggest levels of bigotry, racism, as well as levels of resistance to that hate and bigotry. There's a couple points in the movie where Ron is talking to a this girl he meets at a Black Panther rally (played by Laura Harrier) and he says, I agree with what you're saying but I'm trying to fix things from the inside and she says, you can't fix things from the inside the system is too corrupt. I've had conversations like that and it doesn't exactly say which one is right, but it does give a really complicated look at a complex human struggle.

This movie hits a lot of the right notes at the right time and a lot of that is due to the performances. Ron Stallworth is a complex character of a black man in the 70s who only wanted to be a police officer but is also intrigued by the words and message of black leaders and John David Washington did that really well. Adam Driver continues to just be a power house actor who I only want to see more from because he is also super complex in this movie. I cared about both these characters.

I don't know if this is fair reviewing this after I just watched Widows, but I think one thing missing from this movie is the nuance that Widows was able to create with its characters. The people in the Klan are almost these caricatures that for sure reality in places even today, but I think there could have been a little more nuance from those who are flat out racist and those who aren't going to klan rallies but still have prejudices. I don't know, the movie has a distinct political purpose and I'm guessing nuance wasn't what Spike Lee was going for.

You should neither be surprised or scared off by the fact that this movie has a political message. First off, it's Spike Lee, what were you expecting? But more importantly, its a movie about the KKK set in a time where a year ago a bunch of alt right dumbasses marched in Charlottesville with tiki torches chanting "the Jew will not replace us" and yelling "White Lives Mater".

It should not surprise you that this movie ends with a message on Charlottesville as well as a pretty heavy handed rebuke of President Trump throughout the movie. This movie is pretty critical of Trump, especially in his handling of that event and the support David Duke has given and Trump hasn't turned down very hard.

One criticism I have of this poignant and timely messaging is that I do feel like it dates the film a

little bit. The events in Charlottesville shouldn't be forgotten and this should be a cautionary tale of those unwilling to learn from history are destined to repeat it, but I will be interested to see how this movie holds up in 5 to 10 years when Charlottesville is not as fresh in our memory. Will the obvious Trump references made in this movie by Topher Grace's portrayal of David Duke remain relevant when he's no longer in office? I'm not totally sure.

And the reason I bring that up is because there are other aspects of the movie that I think will prevent it from being timeless, even if you took out the poignant messaging. 

Spike Lee has a style that works sometimes in this film and at other times it doesn't. Near the beginning, there's a point where Corey Hawkins character is giving a speech at a black panther rally and it shows close ups of people in the audiences faces and how his words speak to them. I thought this really worked, especially setting a tone to how political this movie gets. But then there's points in the movie where the music and the camera work is paying homage to black cinema in the seventies. And while I get what the homage was trying to do, I didn't really feel like it contributed to the film as much as it could have, it just felt like an homage for homages sake. I also feel like there were points in the movie where it dragged a little bit. I think they could have shaved about fifteen minutes off the film and it would have felt a lot more streamlined and entertaining.

I really enjoyed BlackkKlansman. Like I said, you should not be surprised, or turned off by the fact that this movie is very political in nature. It is still able to tell a really interesting true story, that should be told, in a very serious way that addresses racism and bigotry, while still managing to point out the natural comedic elements of the story. Yes, I do think the political messaging dates the movie a little bit and it does drag at times, but the performances and story drive it to a movie I'm really glad I saw. I definitely recommend it.

But what did you think of BlackkKlansmen? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading.