“BlacKkKlansman” is a biography picture from the talent and frequently controversial Spike Lee (“Malcolm X”, “Do The Right Thing”). It has moments of humour as well as many truly unsettling moments as it grips with a difficult topic. However, I was a little frustrated at some of the changes to the story that were made and some of the political shots taken.

African-American cop Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is busy infiltrating radical black groups when he decides to also try to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Although he fools them over the phone, he needs his Jewish colleague (Adam Driver “Silence”) to meet the group members in person.

John David Washington does a reasonable job as Ron Stallworth. Adam Driver is good as Flip Zimmerman but the decision to make him Jewish irritated me because it becomes a significant part of the plot when there is no indication that the real-life Stallworth’s partner was Jewish. Significant changes like this undermine the movie’s credibility as this is supposed to be a true story. Topher Grace (“Spider-Man 3”, “American Ultra”) is really good as David Duke, the Grand Wizard of the KKK. I also really enjoyed the performance from Alec Baldwin (“The Shadow”) right at the beginning of the movie.

It’s not just the fact that Stallworth’s partner is a Jew, Spike Lee also decided to throw in a plot point involving the KKK trying to bomb a gathering of radical black people. Why make such substantial changes from the reality? Also, I thought the attempt at the end of the movie to link the events depicted with more recent violence in the United States was unneeded because if the similarities are there (they may not be), the audience can see them without a director trying to force his viewpoint across. There are plenty of problems with it but I did still enjoy “BlacKkKlansman”.