Black Snake Moan

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Summary:
Rae is an insatiable nymphomaniac who one night during drunken and drug-induced debauchery is left on the side of the road for dead. The next morning, Lazarus sees her in his front yard and takes her in to care for her. He soon finds she's got a sin that needs curin', and chains her up in his house to fix her of her wickedness.

Review:
Based on the previews, it was hard to see what kind of tone and message this flick was going to present to the viewers. It was either going to be very dreary and demented, or become an inadvertent comedy with plenty of laugh out loud moments. It actually turned out to be something quite different than that.
Gotta give credit where credit's due, and thank Christina for showing her "Riccis" in Black Snake Moan. Considering that she's a nympho who doesn't give a damn about her body and who abuses it, it actually makes sense to have her getting naked at one point or another in the movie's runtime. And she does. I can't say I'm complaining! Joking aside, she wasn't too shabby as Rae. I could feel some of the torment and loneliness through her performance, and that helped me connect easier to the goings-ons while watching this.
I'm also a huge fan of Sam Jackson, and there are some notable Samuel Fucking L. Jackson moments this time around. I love it when the guy get's pissed, and he does it a few times in Moan, and I couldn't help but laugh in glee for those short moments. Especially when he plays one of his oldschool blues tunes that's riddled with a long slew of "fucks". It wouldn't have been as cool if someone else was performing it! Outside of these fleeting moments of Jackson's trademark, he's a reserved, calm and gentle dude. Lazarus does his best to resurrect Rae from her ailment, even if his planning is a little farfetched, fucked up and cooky all at once.
Slightly newcomer to the movie scene, Justin Timberlake was... well... actually, he wasn't too bad! He plays Rae's fiance who ships out to the Army, only to have problems of his own bringing him back to town sooner than anyone would think. He didn't detract from my viewing enjoyment in the least. I would love to say I hate the guy, but I have to give credit when it's due.

Lazarus' actions are definitely questionable. Who in their right mind would think that chaining a severely beaten young woman to your home would help make her choose to accept that she isn't going to be raped and murdered before he lets her go? Somehow, I went along with all of this thanks to my seeing Laz as an "ok" dude for the most part. He's had some troubles lately of his own, just adding more fuel to his life living the blues. His intentions really are in the right spot, and of course Rae eventually comes to accept this notion as well.
I don't know how one could think of making a story with these kind of events, but I must say that most of the time it worked. I love a lot of the blues tunes and there are some solidly written scenes all through the movie. It's always on the verge of careening into a dark and dirty turn, with countless moments in which I would think "this is it. This is the moment where the shit REALLY hits the fan." I liked that the story kept holding out, and as the it reached its third act, every few minutes there would be a new event that added to my emotional tension. Any moment now, and I was going to see everything blow up onscreen.
Black Snake Moan worked for me for the majority of the time. I won't say if things turn out good or bad because that would ruin some of the fun, but I will say that I was satisfied with the results when I walked out of the theater. The cast was convincing, and the screenplay is pretty solid. It's a fairly simple drama with a strange concept, disguising the more simple elements to the story. It was a fairly entertaining watch, and I'm very glad that I had the chance to see it.

Black Snake Moan is a competently directed drama that has an unusual twist of storytelling, when at the core it's not much that we haven't seen before. I have some issues with it, but I must say that it's one of the better movies I've seen this year so far.

GRADE: B

Reviewed: 3/14/07