There is much to like about this film, but I only give it a 6/10, blaming most of the negative aspects on Spike Lee's direction. There are more than a few very good acting performances: Washington and Driver, and several of the Klansman, especially the husband-wife duo (especially when contrasted to the poor acting of the "bad cop" character). But Topher Grace as David Duke is a great, spot-on portrayal of the smarmy, "marketable" klansman David Duke.. I was less convinced by the love interest/student activist and her relationship with Washington's character. The film suffers from an identity crisis, not knowing whether to be a drama or a comedy. This would have been a better story to be made as dark comedy (maybe like "I, Tonya" (9/10)), or maybe an action, suspense drama. But instead it meanders throughout much of the film. When it's good, this film is superb, but there is much dead time in it. The long speeches greatly slow down the pacing of the film (and I'm NOT a person with a short cinematic attention span - I love "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the wedding scene in "The Deer Hunter"). A second long speech is a lost opportunity to build suspense. Lee tries but fails to build that suspense, with cinematic tools he should know how to use by now. Lee's attempts to tie the 70's Klan to Trump were forced and at times insulted the intelligence of the audience (Did he really think he had to repeat a Trump catch-phrase over and over and over . . . or we'd somehow be too stupid to get his point?). Factually,.this former Colorado Springs resident can accept (for cinematic reasons) moving the mostly flat city of Colorado Springs to the hills (Spike's city looks more like neighboring Manitou Springs). At least the Black Student Union sign was written in the correct Colorado College Colors. Go Tigers.

BlacKkKlansman (2018) is quite an interesting movie. It tells an insane, incredible true story while weaving sociopolitical commentary in seamlessly.The performances are good. Everyone plays their character with professionalism. The standouts are the lead, Ron David Washington, and the fantastic supporting performance of Adam Driver. Everyone else had perfectly fine performances.The writing may seem simple but actually has some secret genius commentary weaves into it. I won't spoil anything, but it shows how togetherness is better than divisiveness. The writing also draws interesting and painful parallels to the modern day.The direction is flawless. This is some of Spike Lee's most hard-hitting work. 'Nuff said.One element that stood out to me was the score. I saw this film 3 days ago and the score is still stuck in my head. Props to the composer!BlacKkKlansman (2018) uses history to offer another view of the modern day quite effectively. (9/10)

This movie is entertaining and smart, well acted and shot, at times funny and at times very serious. What makes it all great though is that it finds that perfect balance between funny and serious and manages to walk down it without falling to either side! John David Washington and Adam Driver are great in it, as is Topher Grace and really the cast overall. If it sounds even a little interesting to you, I urge you to check it out.

THE MOVIES IS INSPERATIONAL AND POWERFULLY SOULFUL #EQUALITY