THE ENEMY WITHIN (JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH)

Sometimes performances can be so powerful they obscure the flaws in a film or play.

Such is the case with Shaka King's 'Judas and the Black Messiah' which boasts electric performances from Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya.

King's movie is the second in the past six months to feature the Chicago Black Panther Party revolutionary socialist Fred Hampton.

Kelvin Harrison Jr portrayed him in Aaron Sorkin's awards season contender 'The Trial of the Chicago Seven' on Netflix.

The idea of a biopic about the chair of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party has been knocking about for some time, with 'Straight Outta Compton' director F Gary Gray attached at one stage to the project.

King, whose previous movie was the 2013 indie comedy drama about stoners 'Newlyweeds,' was subsequently hired with 'Creed' and 'Black Panther' director Ryan Coogler among the three producers.

Working with fellow screenwriter Will Version, he has chosen to focus on the betrayal of Hampton by the petty car thief turned FBI informant William O'Neal.

In a stunning interview, the informer revealed his role spying on Hampton on the 1989 PBS documentary about the civil rights struggle 'Eyes On The Prize II' and then committed suicide the night it was broadcast.

So there is plenty of rich material for King and his cast to explore - not least the Biblical connection the title suggests, with Hampton as a Messiah and O'Neal as his Judas. 

Lakeith Stanfield, who audiences will know from Jordan Peele's 'Get Out' and the Safdie Brothers' 'Uncut Gems' plays O'Neal with a hunger and energy that is reminiscent of Al Pacino's performances for Sidney Lumet in the 1970s.

At the start of the film, we see him at the age of 17 posing as a Federal officer in a Chicago dive bar and pretending to arrest a suspect, so he can steal a car.

O'Neal is quickly rumbled by the patrons for being too young and manages to just about get away in the car as a knife is plunged through its roof, narrowly missing his head.

However he is caught by the authorities and finds himself facing Jesse Plemons' Special Agent Roy Mitchell who is puzzled why O'Neal posed as a Fed.

He is told: "The badge is scarier than the gun."

Mitchell will become O'Neal's handler as he infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers following Martin Sheen's FBI Director J Edgar Hoover's insistence that they be monitored.

While the charges against him are dropped in return for spying on Daniel Kaluuya's charismatic Hampton, Mitchell's approach is to also reward his infirmer by inviting him to dinner or to drink whisky at one point to his home.

It is as if he is tantalisingly dangling the prospect of a life of privilege which O'Neal willingly laps up but it is just an illusion.

O'Neal initially catches Hampton's eye as the Illinois Black Panther leader schools activists about their struggle.

But it is for the wrong reason, with Hampton admonishing him for pestering a female comrade.

He nevertheless manages to wangle a job driving Hampton and his lieutenants to meetings with rival Chicago gangs, giving him a front seat as the Marxist Leninist leader builds a rainbow revolutionary movement with Latinos and Confederate flag loving working class whites also on board.

A powerful and persuasive orator, Hampton increasingly unsettles Mitchell and his FBI superiors who are eager to put him behind bars.

Mitchell even observes Hampton could "sell salt to a slug".

But even when they get Hampton imprisoned, O'Neal's job is not done.

His increasingly prominent role in the Black Panther Party makes him a valuable and willing asset who helps them disrupt the movement.

King delivers a handsome and undeniably substantial account of the FBI's efforts to thwart Hampton.

And given the recent renewal of interest in racial activism in the US and around the world, the film will undoubtedly whet the appetite of some viewers who will want to find out more about the Black Panther movement.

As with 'Newlyweeds,' the Bedford- Stuyvesant raised King wears his Spike Lee influence on his sleeves, although there are echoes of Martin Scorsese's 'Mean Streets' in the movie too.

His film is beautifully lit and shot by the American British cinematographer Sean Bobbitt who has worked with Steve McQueen, Michael Winterbottom and Neil Jordan.

Bobbitt uses striking camera angles to visually stimulate the viewer including a terrific back seat passenger view of a cock-a-hoop O'Neal reversing triumphantly away from a meeting.

However the movie mostly thrives in its lead performances.

Kaluuya is simply magnetic as Hampton in a role that has already landed him Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for Best Supporting Actor as well as BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

However Stanfield is every inch his equal in the movie and deserves a lot of praise for the twitchy, nervous energy he brings to the role of O'Neal.

Stanfield's character constantly walks the tightrope of appearing to be a loyal activist while risking being exposed.

He is complemented by Plemons whose velvet glove approach to Mitchell's handling of O'Neal conceals a clenched fist.

Dominique Fishback, who some audiences may know from the HBO series 'The Deuce' and 'The Hate U Give,' impresses as Hampton's lover Deborah Johnson.

Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne, Ashton Sanders and Darrell Britt-Gibson are effective too as members of the Black Panther party and there is a memorable appearance by Lil Rey Howery as another FBI informant.

But if there is one jarring element in King's film, it is the way in which Martin Sheen is freakishly made up to portray J Edgar Hoover.

It is so weird looking, it overshadows his efforts - making him look like a talking wax candle.

King's film also loses its fizz when the action dips into discussions within the FBI about Hampton and the Black Panthers' activities.

They don't always convince and you find yourself wishing more time was devoted to the relationship between the FBI and Mitchell and the exchange of information.

King, however, delivers a gripping sequence when the Panthers' headquarters are besieged by Chicago police while Hampton is in prison.

Two scenes where O'Neal faces the threat of being exposed as an informer are also particularly well handled.

Coming on the back of the Black Lives Matter protests and a turbulent election year in the US that had an intense focus on institutional racism, 'Judas and the Black Messiah' will no doubt resonate with contemporary audiences. 

It reminds us that racial injustice in the US remains as flammable now as it was in the late 1960s.

The question is: can Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get to grips with the problem before it ignites again?

After watching 'Judas and the Black Messiah,' you have good reasons to be sceptical.

However address it they must if the US is to thrive.

('Judas and the Black Messiah' received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on February 1, 2021 and was released digitally in the US on February 12, 2021 and the UK and Ireland on March 12, 2021)

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