Based on actual events, BlacKkKlansmantells the 1970s story of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington – Monsters and Men), the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). Knowing it is behind, the CSPD is ready to hire its first African American. Ron is interviewed by Chief Bridges (Robert John Burke – 2 Guns, FX’s Rescue Me) and Mr. Turrerntine (Isiah Whitlock, Jr. – Cedar Rapids, Da 5 Bloods) to see if he can be that man. He receives some tough questions that certainly would not be given to a white counterpart. Bridges and Turrentine want to see how he will react to even the most trying situations. While Chief Bridges seems to have no problem with having an officer of color, other than members of his police force are less welcoming. Bridges assigned Stallworth to the filing department, where he didn’t want to be. He is bothered by a number of his fellow officers, particularly by a patrolman, Andy Landers (Frederick Weller – Armageddon), who repeatedly tries to agitate him.

Ron requests and eventually is granted an assignment in the field. He is sent undercover to a Black Panther meeting where a well-known activist named Stokely Carmichael speaks, trying to radicalize a local college. Detectives Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver – Paterson, Midnight Special) and Jimmy Creek (Michael Buscemi – Blended, Time Out of Mind) are on the opposite end of his wire, gaining intel on whatever Ron can pick up and also rescue him if his cover gets blown. Ron is instantly attracted to Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier – Spider-Man: Homecoming), head of the Black Student Union, or maybe he’s just using her to gain information. The speech by Carmichael (now going by the name Kwame Ture) is impassioned enough to get the impressionable student body to embrace and love their black heritage and not be afraid to try to conform to white people. Ture talks about an impending race war between black people and the white officers who are getting away with killing them on the streets. He mentions arming themselves for the perceived threat.

After it is determined that the department doesn’t perceive the Black Panther meeting to pose any credible threat to increased violence in the Colorado Springs community, Ron becomes regulated back to the file room. But he has no interest in returning there, knowing he has the skills to make a great detective. So he takes matters into his own hands, picks up his desk phone, and answers a newspaper advertisement for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), posing as a white man interested in joining the chapter. Unfortunately, Ron can convince the chapter president Walter Breachway (Ryan Eggold – NBC’s The Blacklist) that he is a racist white Aryan man. Though he messed up by using his real name, he did everything else to perfection, and he was able to set up a meeting with the KKK to infiltrate and expose the organization. The only problem? He’s black. So he teaches Flip, a more seasoned (and white) colleague, all he needs to know for his dangerous meetings with the KKK.

In addition to Breachway, Flip meets others in the local chapter of the KKK, including Felix (Jasper Paakonen – The History Channel’s Vikings), Ivanhoe  (Paul Walter Hauser), and eventually David Duke (Topher Grace – Fox’s That 70’s Show, In Good Company), the leader of the entire organization. The whole time, Ron/Flip gather intel about future cross-burnings and other, more sinister crimes while trying to hide their identities. But even though they do some stupid things, the organization is very good at sniffing out moles, which sometimes becomes a harrowing experience. Because it’s a true story, we often don’t know what direction things will go. As a result, there is plenty of tension and unpredictability. And Lee makes us care for many of the characters in this movie, even making some of those in the KKK (specifically Walter) sympathetic.

It’s Lee’s finest work in years. I don’t necessarily like how he linked the movie to events over 100 years prior and 35 years into the future, but I get it. That’s one of his things. It certainly does not take away from the story. This might be the smoothest storytelling of any movie that he has directed. He saves these two particular series of scenes for the beginning and end of the film. You could strip these two scenes out entirely and have the same movie. While I appreciated what he was trying to do and was particularly glad to see his vision on the 2017 events in Charlottesville, Virginia, I would have rather seen this as a short, independent of BlacKkKlansman. It did not take away or add anything to the movie. I appreciated the 1979 story as it was.

The acting was excellent, and what a coming-out party for Washington. I look forward to his long and impactful career, though I don’t necessarily see him as a leading man. He’s brilliant, and he’ll be able to supplement actors’ work in movies of a variety of genres. And even though he was the brightest spot in a film full of bright spots, I envision his career in more of a leading role. So he’ll be around for a while. And Driver (while I don’t love all of his films) keeps getting better and better, and his breadth as an actor is pretty incredible at such an early stage in his career.