Based on a true story, BlacKkKlansman is an extremely powerful film. And one that is a depressingly accurate depiction of the current state of affairs in our country, despite its 1970s setting.
*Quick aside, read about the actual events, as told by the real life Ron Stallworth. But only read after the movie, as the interview will spoil certain parts of the movie*
For those that don’t know, the movie tells the story of Detective Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington, Denzel’s son). Stallworth became the first black detective in Colorado Springs, CO. After seeing a newspaper ad for the Ku Klux Klan, Stallworth calls the phone number listed, pretending to be a white man. He ends up getting invited to a face to face meeting to discuss the possibility of him joining the “organization,” as its referred to by its members. Since he of course can’t show up himself, he gets approval for another detective, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to play “White Ron.” The movie goes on to show their ongoing investigation into the Klan’s activities.
Looking at it strictly as a film, BlacKkKlansman is really nothing more than a crime drama. But of course, being a Spike Lee joint and covering the subject matter it does, it’s not that simple. As you would expect with a movie like this, it’s certainly very hard to watch at times. The open, blatant, unabashed racism and bigotry. I can’t think of another movie that uses as many racial slurs as BlacKkKlansman does. And it’s not just the n-word either. They go after everyone. It’s jarring to hear them used so casually and with such a high frequency in a mainstream movie like this. But it needs it; it couldn’t be the movie it is without it.
Part of the film’s great power and effect comes from the fact that it’s so easy to watch the movie and be reminded of current events (say, Charlottesville, perhaps?). There are some times when Lee really shoves it down the viewers’ throats, but for the most part the movie just being itself is enough to evoke some very real, raw emotional responses from the audience. Even with some of the other releases this year (Sorry to Bother You and the still-to-come The Hate U Give, to name a couple) BlacKkKlansman could very easily end up being the most important film of the year, if not of the last decade or so.
With its quality and expected social impact, BlacKkKlansman should be a monster come award season. It seems like a lock for a Best Picture nomination. Spike Lee will likely find himself with a couple nominations, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. And there could be numerous acting nods as well. John David Washington should be in the discussion for Best Actor, as should Adam Driver for Best Supporting Actor. Even Topher Grace, playing Grand Wizard David Duke, could sneak a nomination for Best Supporting as well. And we can’t talk about possible awards without mentioning Laura Harrier’s performance as Patrice.
So yes, BlacKkKlansman is great, no question. But even so, it’s not without its problems, albeit fairly minor ones. I’ll admit this first one is more of a nitpick than anything. But why did it have to be a two-man operation? Yes, Stallworth made the initial call, but from a practical standpoint, wouldn’t it have been easier to have one detective take both the over-the-phone and in-person roles? While I’m sure the real life version had its reasons, this is still a movie. All I would have needed was one or two simple lines of exposition. This may not even register with some viewers, but it’s just something small that stuck out to me.
With a run time of 2 hours 15 minutes, the movie was mostly paced very well. It was great up until about the last 30 minutes or so. Then it began to feel a bit rushed, like they were becoming conscious of the extending run time and decided to zip through the ending rather than look for small cuts earlier in the movie. Again, a small thing. But its impact feels greater being the ending of the movie.
These last two complaints are the two parts where I felt it kept the movie from taking a spot as a top 1 or 2 movie of the year up to this point, rather than the 4th as it currently stands. First, I would have loved to see Adam Driver’s character receive more development. They hint at some back story a couple times but never get too far into it. It could have added some great depth to Zimmerman and what drives and motivates him. As a Jewish man going undercover in the Ku Klux Klan, there was a great missed opportunity to give some additional weight to the character.
This last one circles back to a previous point. As I mentioned before, there were parts where Lee made sure the audience knew he was making a direct reference to today’s America. And I didn’t think those moments were necessary. The real power of the film came from the fact that the similarities didn’t need to be spelled out in order for the audience to connect the dots. Just the fact that it’s a movie set in the 1970s but feels like it could have been a 60 Minutes special from a week ago tells you everything you need to know.
Even with those few miscues, the bottom line is that BlacKkKlansman is a great, powerful, important film. It’s one that will almost certainly be watched and talked about for years to come, and rightfully so. Even if you’re not a big “see movies in theaters” type of person, make an exception and put this one is on your to-do list.
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