MOVIE TIP

BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee is in top form, directing this timely (even though it’s set in the 1970s) examination of race with energy and flair. As often is the case with Lee, he sometimes gets heavy-handed, but that doesn’t detract from the power of this movie. It’s based on a weirdly true story of a black cop named Ron Stallworth who, in an undercover assignment, becomes a member of the KKK. John David Washington (Denzel’s son) gives a star-making turn as Stallworth, and Adam Driver is his usual interestingly offbeat self as Stallworth’s partner. Lee’s use of news footage of last year’s Charlottesville riots to conclude the film is a gambit, but it ends up being intensely affecting.