Spike Lee's exciting drama celebrates the bravery of police officers who infiltrated the Klan

I'll join the chorus in praise of Spike Lee's bold and exciting drama Blackkklansman (2018), which tells the story of Ron Stallworth (based on his book Black Klansman and played well by John David Washington), who in 1968 became the first black police officer in Colorado Springs and on his own initiative began the infiltration of a violent and sadistic local chapter of the KKK. I won't give away precisely how a black cop is able to infiltrate a Klan cell, but he does so in alliance with another police officer, in another challenging and unusual role for the talented Adam Driver. Lee keeps the tension ratcheted right to the top throughout this movie - there's hardly a moment of rest or relaxation, as the two men are in constant danger throughout their investigation - hindered in part by at best lukewarm support from the PD and some outright racist behavior by a fellow officer. This movie of course is painfully relevant today, a half-century later, but I do wish that Lee had let the plot speak for itself rather than pounding home the point through use of contemporary footage of Charlottesville and its aftermath. I'd also quibble with the strangely jocular behavior of the police officers in the final segments and would have liked a little info on the fate and fortunes of Stallworth (and the klan cell in Colorado Springs) since 1968 - but these are small points in the face of a movie that celebrates the bravery of a few people who fought racism and terror in their community and that reminds us to be ever vigilant and to have no tolerance for bigotry.