Black Snake Moan

Love, Redemption, and Blues
I was drawn to this movie because I enjoyed director Craig Brewer's earlier film, "Hustle and Flow". If anything, I liked "Black Snake Moan" even better. The movie combines tawdry and lurid components with a tale of love, forgiveness, and hope. I don't think the film is exploitative. Instead it suggests in a simple way how sensual and redemptive parts of life often complement each other.

In thinking about this movie, I was reminded of George Eliot's novel, "Silas Marner", the bane of every high school student. In Eliot's novel, Marner, an embittered miser finds redemption when he raises Eppie, an orphaned girl, from childhood to young adulthood. Similarly, "Black Snake Moan" tells the story of a middle-aged black American man, Lazarus, portrayed by Samuel Jackson, who feels embittered when Rose, his wife of 12 years, leaves him for his best friend. Lazarus happens upon a young scantily dressed white woman, Rae, played by Christina Ricci, who has been beaten and left...

"Snake" and a Chain
So, let me get this straight. The Deep South. A young, white woman (Christina Ricci) who is also a nymphomaniac, ends up on the doorstep of an aging, black blues singer (Samuel L. Jackson) and he decides to chain her to his radiator. Have I returned to another era of filmmaking? When I first heard about this story, I did a double take. "Black Snake Moan" could be very bad; there are a lot of inherent problems with this story. Or it could be very good; the synopsis has so many weird, uncommon elements that it almost guarantees it will be something wonderful. I am happy to report the latter is true.

I didn't love "Hustle and Flow", writer - director Craig Brewer's last film, but I liked it. I just wasn't won over by the story of a pimp who wants to become a rapper. If there's anything we learned from the film its "Don't you know it's hard out there for a pimp".

So when I first heard about "Black Snake Moan", Brewer's follow-up, I was not excited. Then I started to...

Very Unique and Entertaining
Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) directs his second mainstream film and John Singleton produces. Black Snake Moan stars Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus, a religious man living in a small southern town. Lazarus is also a blues musician. His demons are that his wife left him for his own brother and for this he is riddled with anger. Christina Ricci plays Rae, who is an overly promiscuous girl who is traumatized by a history of child sexual abuse. On top of that her boyfriend Ronnie has left to join the National Guard. Ronnie is played by Justin Timberlake. After Ronnie leaves, Rae ends up having a pretty bad evening that leaves her scantily clad and beat up in the middle of a dirt road. She is left on a road just in front of Lazarus's house. After helping her get better, he soon comes to find out who Rae is and what kind of reputation she has. Lazarus sees this as a sign from god that he must heal her of her wickedness in order to receive some redemption for himself. So he ties her...

Click to Editorial Reviews