IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (O. Henderson) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review
BlacKkKlansman [2018] (directed and, screenplay cowritten by Spike Lee along with Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott based on the book [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Ron Stallworth [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is in the tradition of writer/director Spike Lee's other films, indeed his whole career, a "different kind of film" from mainstream Hollywood fare.
That characterization may in itself discourage many potential viewers from going to see the film. "What do you mean different?" "Why should I be challenged or disturbed in any way when I go to the movies?" Well, there are others of us who don't mind being challenged and _appreciate_ well articulated perspectives coming from another from others, other people, with whom we share this world, perspectives that we could not possibly know, or understand as well, if we did not hear them from those who've lived them.
Now yes, this film is about certainly, the at least in part _amusing_ story of how Ron Stallworth (played in the film by John David Washington) the FIRST African American member of random midsized American city Colorado Springs, CO's police department (its "Jackie Robinson" as he was called) got involved in, indeed initiated, an investigation into the local Ku Klux Klan.
But the film is above all about appreciating the fundamental oddity and PAIN of Ron Stallworth's position. YES HE WAS CSPD's "Jackie Robinson." Yes, most of us know who Jackie Robinson was, who Rosa Parks was, who Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was. But here was simply Ron Stallworth, a random African American guy who, again, lived in an utterly random midsized American city of the 1970s, who like many other cops of all colors and ethnicities had decided that the best way for him to do his part in this world was to serve as a law enforcement officer. Yet here was an utterly random guy who ALSO found himself to be "the Jackie Robinson" of his world.
And it wasn't easy. First, the other officers in CSPD didn't necessarily know initially what to do with him, and yes, SOME couldn't get past his skin color (while to Spike Lee's consistent credit throughout his whole career, he makes sure that Viewers know that OTHERS did). AND members of his own African American milieu didn't necessarily see him always as "one of them" either. Ron Stallworth _became_ very useful to CSPD, because he would discreetly attend / monitor functions of local Colorado State University's Black Student Union: "Hey, are you a spy?" Well partly yes, but also in good part no. It's honestly better for society (and law enforcement) know what's going on in smaller groups before things get out of hand.
And it is Ron Stallworth who comes across a surprisingly deep involvement of the KKK way out there in the "sleepy Colorado plains."
So this is really an excellent film and allows ALL its viewers to enter into the world of Ron Stallworth and ask the questions: "Why did this man have to become 'a Jackie Robinson' at all? Why could he have not been seen as 'good enough' from the get go?"
Finally, this film is a very strong reminder to all of us why calls for "Making America great again" are so hated and feared by this country's communities of color. To an African American, America WASN'T "great" when his/her ancestors came to this country _in chains_. And it WASN'T GREAT when for even 100 years after the nominal end of slavery, African Americans could stand to be lynched at the whim of a white population intent on keeping people of color "in their place."
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