Film Review Black Snake Moan Bio
Film Review: Black Snake Moan

Sunday, March 11, 2007 - I look for the same things in a movie that I hope to portray in my own writing. Just as I want others to feel, think, and laugh, I want to feel, think, and laugh, too. Watching Black Snake Moan, I struggled with it in the beginning. I couldn't find any reason to sympathize with Samuel L Jackson's or Christina Ricci's characters. And on top of that, the only thing I felt was incredibly disturbed.

Ricci plays a young nymphomaniac who has nightmares of violent sex. The amateur psychotherapist in me says this girl went through something terrible when she was a little girl. It seems to release even more in her when her boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, leaves for a tour with the National Guard. Making it all worse, she has some illness that shows up in a terrible cough. When she shows up at the drugstore in town, her estranged mother, played by Kim Richards, asks her if she's there for cough drops or condoms, then asks her if meal ticket got shipped out yet.

Timberlake's best friend, played by Michael Raymond James, figures as long as everyone else has had Ricci, he may as well too, and beats her up when she compares him to the other guys she's been with. Jackson plays an old bluesman who gave it up years ago and raises produce in his field to get by. His wife left him for his brother, leaving him not very happy with loose women. He sees Ricci all used and abused on the side of the road by his house, and brings her home, determined to "fix her," chaining her up to his radiator to prevent her from escaping.

The whole nature of this film was very disturbing, between Ricci's frequent nightmares that lead up to her craving any sexual attention, and Jackson citing Bible verses in his reasoning to keep her chained to the radiator. Yet, just as I got used to being uncomfortable and cold, Black Snake Moan found some warmth. Jackson falls for the pharmacist, played by S Epatha Merkerson, that helps him out with Ricci's cough, and Ricci finds the strength to finally confront a few of her demons. Somehow, through the loss of freedom, she and Jackson found the safety they'd always looked for.

The acting in Black Snake Moan is fantastic; Ricci and Jackson are very believable, but that's not surprising. What is surprising is that he's actually a really good bluesman, both in singing and playing the guitar. The soundtrack to this film is phenomenal. Timberlake was able to hold his own acting as well; however, he had a hard time displaying extreme anger, and it came off somewhat forced. The supporting characters, including Jackson's preacher friend, played by John Cothran Jr. seemed to bring it all together.

The only question mark in this film is the uncomfortable subject matter, both with the violence and the sex. None of it is gratuitous, however, and it is all integral to the plot. If you can make it past the disturbing issues, you can find the heart of the movie. Because of that, though, I'm splitting the score here, with it being a Yud and a Dud. A Yud for those with the courage to stand in there in the uncomfortableness and wait for the reward, and a Dud for those without the patience to do so.

Yuddy Score: A split of Yud/Dud

-LT


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