Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for Spike Lee's BlacKklansman, touted as one of the year's best films thus far.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers or from the news if you're old enough.
Colorado Springs' first black police officer goes undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. (Seriously.)
Unarmed with knowledge of the true story, one might naturally assume a yarn as absurd as BlacKklansman to be fictional comedy. The movie does, in fact, feature several laugh-out-loud moments. These ridiculous situations that seem hilarious in fiction are decidedly less so when based in reality (especially in today's climate), but the moments of levity are well-placed and necessary in a story that's pretty hard to stomach at times. Despite deliberate pacing, BlacKkKlansman never feels slow, though the harsh, hateful language and the tension of the case itself definitely made me fidgety. Much of the picture is so surprisingly quiet that, on those occasions when Terence Blanchard's score really rears its head, it feels a little jarring and out of place, but otherwise the musical selections are choice! Outstanding leads John David Washington and Adam Driver have terrific chemistry; Washington, in particular, carries the film with the ease of an old pro, despite having just eight acting credits on his resume. Director Lee expends a great deal of quality screen time focusing on individual faces in the crowds, as if begging viewers to remember we're all just people, no matter our ethnicity or heritage. BlacKkKlansman is the kind of essential film making that makes getting out to the cinema not just something you want to do, but something you HAVE to do.
BlacKkKlansman clocks in at 135 minutes and is rated R for "language throughout, including racial epithets, disturbing/violent material, and some sexual references."
BlacKkKlansman is that rare gem that truly earns the hype.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, BlacKkKlansman gets nine.
Fangirl points: Well, dear reader(s), this basic 70s white girl sure did enjoy hearing Emerson Lake & Palmer's "Lucky Man" in digital surround sound!
Until next time...
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