THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
As the 2010s progressed, some wondered what was the next big thing from Spike Lee. Thankfully, he was pitched just that by producer Jordan Peele, ‘Black cop infiltrates Ku klux’.
PLOT
BlacKkKlansman follows Ron Stallworth, the first African cop in Colorado. Starting out in the records room, he requests to be transferred for undercover work. His first assignment is to infiltrate a rally in which a speech is given by civil rights leader Kwame Ture. There, he meets President of the Black Student Union, Patrice Dumas. After the rally, he is reassigned to the intelligence division. Finding a Ku Klux ad on the local newspaper, he calls their number, posing as a racist white man. He is able to get a meet and greet with the president of the Colorado chapter, Walter, but he accidentally uses his real name. He recruits his Jewish co-worker, Philip ‘Flip’ Zimmerman, to act as him. Flip is welcomed openly by Walter, but the reckless member, Felix, is certain something is off with him. During the meet and greet, he and another member, Ivanhoe, refer that they’re planning another attack. Ron is able to expedite his membership after calling Grand Wizard David Duke. From there, he starts having regular phone conversations with him. When visiting the home of Felix, Flip is almost forced to take a polygraph test, but Ron is able to distract them by breaking the kitchen window, being chased away in the progress. During this investigation, Ron is dating Patrice, not telling her that he’s a cop. He eventually does tell her when warning her that there could be a bomb attack during a protest she’ll attend. This disappoints her as she understandably hates cops. Duke visits Colorado for Flip’s official induction to the Klan, but Ron is assigned as protection detail for the Grand Wizard. This is a problem because it is possible that either Walter or Duke could recognize his voice. On the day of the induction, a member named Walker (Nicholas Turturro) recognizes Flip who arrested him years ago and tells Felix. Felix sends his wife Connie (Ashlie Atkinson) to plant the bomb near the protest. When she calls him explaining that too much police officers are present, they go to Plan B: plant the bomb at Patrice’s house. When Ron discovers their intentions, he alerts the police. When he finds Connie, he tries to arrest her but is detained by uniformed officers. Felix, Walker and Ivanhoe arrive to detonate the bomb but are unaware that its near their car and Patrice’s. The explosion overturns the car, killing all three men in the process. As that happens, Flip arrives to free Ron and Connie is arrested. Afterwards, Ron is also able to arrest fellow Officer Andy Landers (Frederick Weller) for police brutality. Despite the success, the evidence of the case must be destroyed and cut any connection to the Klan. Ron ends his last phone call with Duke, revealing his identity is to him. Uncomfortable with dating a cop, Patrice decides to end her relationship with him, despite that he saved her life. It ends with them witnessing a cross burning from outside a window, along with epilogue footage of the 2017 Charlottesville riots.
THOUGHTS
Every time I see this film, I can agree that Spike once again succeeds in telling it how it is: Racism has never disappeared, it has only gotten worse and nothing has truly changed. I am glad Peele went to him for this because only Lee could have done justice for this story. Despite being about a serious subject, the movie had its moments to make me laugh. The best example goes to Alec Baldwin’s opening cameo. His role as Kennebrew Beauregard is hilarious due to how the character couldn’t get his lines right when shooting his KKK propaganda. Whoever’s intention to make it that way, pays off. Also, you know it’s gonna be some kind of joyride when Isiah Whitlock Jr. is saying ‘shit’. Aside from that, it knew when to get serious with uncomfortable scenes such as the back to back sequence of Jerome Turner discussing the violence he has witnessed, while the Klan watch 1915’s The Birth of a Nation. Seeing this blend in very well, Spike earned his long awaited Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, along with his co-writers: Kevin Willmontt, David Rabinowitz and Charlie Wachtel. Despite the fact that Ron Stallworth and David Duke are real people, everyone else in the film are fictional, which surprised me a whole lot. If the script wasn’t enough to convince to check it out, the cast will. Ever since I first watched HBO’s Ballers, I always knew that one day John David Washington (son of Denzel Washington) would be a leading man, as he does so well with the role of Ron Stallworth. He mainly expresses the struggles of being on both sides: A cop and black man. He knows what black people go through everyday and from his experience, not every cop is as despicable as what is seen on the media. He also shows the determination to not only make a name for himself, but also doing the right thing. Adam Driver impressed me a lot in his Oscar nominated performance as Flip, mainly due to the calmness his character is going through when being undercover. Seeing him keep a straight face when hearing racial slurs and saying a few of his own to blend in, its impressive that he stayed alive throughout. Patrice Dumas was clearly based off of various people that are/were in the Black Power Movement and Laura Harrier demands the screen as she shows to never be afraid to say what’s wrong with the world, no matter how bad it gets. With the given screen time, Topher Grace is able to make Duke as intimidating as possible. Every second he is present, you feel the authoritarian presence that helps spread his prejudice beliefs. Corey Hawkins’ speech as Kwame Ture is breathtaking because like Patrice, he is one that tells the one truth that matters in this movie: Being black is beautiful, and there is nothing wrong with it. Jasper Pääkönen is scary as hell playing Felix, which is the whole point. It was pretty crazy seeing how smart he was and sometimes, intelligence can be terrifying. Lastly, I can’t help but admit Paul Walter Hauser was funny as hell playing Ivanhoe. The scene in which he wants to say something to Ron but just can’t come up with anything cracks me up. His facial expression is what truly seals the deal with that scene. Overall, BlacKkKlansman is Spike Lee’s best joint since Do The Right Thing, as it shows the truth people still ignore: the world is still struggling for equality, which makes it more infuriating that this one in particular did not win Best Picture in 2019. If you love Spike Lee joints, don’t take too long waiting to check this out.
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