BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee is back. With his provocative film BlacKkKlansman, "based on some fo' real shit," this part-thriller, part-drama, part-comedy flick is saturated with the kinds of societal critiques and questions that have made Lee an essential part of American cinema. He returned to this form several years ago with Chi-raq, but BlacKkKlansman is so much more unforgettable. Taking aim at the Lost Cause revisionist history of The Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind, Lee poses tough questions for every viewer to contemplate. And fortunately, there's basically everything you would want in a Spike Lee joint: thrills, innovative camera work, comedy, and especially social commentary (in a way that virtually no other American director can do). But his ability to capture joy in a movie essentially about human tragedy is exceptional; the "Too Late to Turn Back Now" dance scene in the bar is probably the best music moment of the year.

John David Washington (son of Denzel, Lee's frequent collaborator) plays Ron Stallworth, a young, eager rookie cop for the Colorado Springs Police Department. Bored with his tasks at the department, he eagerly asks for some kind of reassignment as a detective. He's only a rookie, and so he's brushed off. Eventually, he is charged with going undercover at a student rally featuring Stokley Carmichael (Corey Hawkins), by then known as Kwame Ture. At the rally, he meets Patrice Dumas (played by Laura Herrier, whose most prominent film performance was in Spider-Man: Homecoming last year). Patrice is the president of the local Black Student Union. Romance ensues, and he's warned to remember his job. This would surely help him; Patrice hates cops.

Browsing through the newspaper at work, Stallworth comes across an add for the local KKK chapter. Practically out of boredom, he calls the number pretending to be a white racist, leaving a voice message filled with a long laundry list of racist expletives against virtually every group the KKK hates. It's the funniest scene in the movie, as his colleagues slowly drop what they're doing and listen in, totally stunned. The most humorous acting in that brief shot is Adam Driver, not usually known for his comedic abilities. Driver plays Flip Zimmerman, who is recruited to play Stallworth as the racist recruit once they are approved to go undercover and infiltrate the chapter to see if they are planning violent activities. While Zimmerman may be white, he also is Jewish, which means that not only does the KKK hate him, too, but if his identity is revealed, he'll also be in a tremendous amount of jeopardy.

The investigation continues to gather information about the chapter's activities and their hints of violence. Stallworth even fools David Duke along the way. (Yes, that David Duke.) Duke is played by Topher Grace in his best performance in years. He says "darn tootin'" so often and with such an earnest grin that you might occasionally forget about everything Duke has said and done. Ever since he became a star on That '70s Show, Grace's film career has been mostly unmemorable. Here, however, he pulls off a very noteworthy performance. Harrier also really nails the role, and this is the first performance I've seen of Washington's; he may have as prosperous a film career as his famous father.

There is hardly any complaint about the acting from the rest of the cast members, though Paul Walter Hause (who is very funny here), is practically giving the same performance as he did last year in I, Tonya as the village idiot. Isiah Whitlock, Jr. also appears briefly, and just as he did in Chi-raq, Lee gets him to do the "shiiiiiit" thing he did all the time in The Wire, but by now one might feel bad for him because it seems all he has are these cameos in Spike Lee movies doing the same thing over and over again. And in more evidence of Bechdel Test failure, this is a film that is predominantly about men (even though in Stallworth's book, at least one female member of the chapter is mentioned). There are essentially only two female characters (and both of them fictional): Patrice and Connie. Ashlie Atkinson plays Connie, the adorably hospitable yet horrifyingly racist and violent KKK housewife, and yet she is so over the top. So, too, is Finnish actor Jasper Paakkonen, playing her husband, the clansman deeply suspicious of Flip. Most of the other cast is fine, however, especially the appearances by Alec Baldwin, Harry Belefonte, and Michael Buscemi (brother of Steve).

This isn't to say that there is nothing wrong with the movie. Like Argo seven years before it, BlacKkKlansman features an exhilarating climax that is easy to spot how untrue it is.

But the elephant in the room regarding this movie is Donald Trump and the alt-right, the modern-day, watered-down term for the KKK and neo-Nazis. Some of the anti-Trump stuff is a little too cute and a little too on the nose. In one scene, Duke quickly tries to explain his goals by saying something along the lines of America needing to find its greatness again (get it?). Duke and his clansmen repeatedly yell "America first!" at their ceremony. (Duke could sue Trump for stealing all his stuff.) Trump, frankly, deserves this. His unbelievably shocking response to the Unite the Right violent rallies in Charlottesville last year and his unwillingness to condemn Duke and renounce his support during the 2016 campaign have permanently tied him to them. (He likely won't see this movie anyway.)

I want to end by writing that I don't want to reveal anything about the final five minutes. I just want to mention that it's about as powerful a conclusion to a film as you'll ever see.

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