"BlacKkKlansman" among the best Spike Lee joints

Editor's note: Robert Setlock is a movie reviewer who runs the YouTube channel Organized Chaos."BlacKkKlansman"• Setlock review: **** out of five stars• Rated: R• Runtime: 2 hours, 15 minutes• In select theatersIt might be hard to recall, but there was once a time when the president was a criminal, a time when the police would attack people without a good cause and a time when an overtly racist group openly embraced Jim Crow and expected public legitimacy.I know it seems far-fetched, but try to suspend your disbelief.It's the 1970s. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) was the first African-American officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department. He notices a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan is recruiting and calls up with an eye to infiltrating the group. Stallworth contacts members of the Klan, including David Duke (Topher Grace) via the phone and then has his partner, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), meet with them when a face-to-face is required.The resulting story is, at times, very funny, and, at times, very engaging and — at all times — very poignant.This is a film by Spike Lee, who, as a filmmaker, has gotten better with age. His craft has become more focused, honed and, consequently, much more nuanced than his earlier works. "BlacKkKlansman" may be his best work yet.I have two noteworthy issues with this movie that prevent me from giving it a full five stars:• The first is that, at two hours and 15 minutes, this story feels stretched thin.• The other issue is far more serious. The film has very clear modern-day parallels, but, rather than just letting those parallels dawn on the audience in due course, he spends the ending hitting the audience over the head with them. Essentially, the nuance that I just gave him credit for only applies to 99 percent of the movie. In other words, it's a great movie with a cringe-worthy ending. Treating the audience like an incoherent idiot is one of the cardinal gaffes that identify poorly made movies.Fortunately, the majority of this film is insightful. It shows both the humor and horror that groups like the KKK can incite. One moment, you are laughing at the raw stupidity on display. The next, you find yourself aghast that these idiots righteously believe in their own stupidity and will seek to carry out their view of "the right thing" in monstrous ways.If I could give Mr. Lee one humble piece of advice, it would be this: You are an amazing filmmaker and storyteller capable of transporting the audience. Therefore, you should trust your audience and in your own abilities to get your point across. The fans of your films almost certainly will understand, while the people who won't aren't going to be seeing your films anyway. On the offhand chance non-fans do see one of your films, the point will have more impact when they get there on their own.Setlock, Robert