Tamer than you'd think

Rating: 6/10 (20 August 2012)

For a film about a young, sexually voracious white woman who's chained to a radiator by a God-fearing older black man, BLACK SNAKE MOAN is surprisingly non-exploitational. Instead, it's an intriguing enough character piece, juxtaposing two entirely different protagonists and exploring their relationship when they're forced together by circumstance.
Christina Ricci has the physically demanding role of the trailer trash, playing the entire movie near-naked and being variously beaten or humiliated for much of the running time. However, it's Samuel L. Jackson who (unsurprisingly) gives the best performance as the conflicted gentleman faced with the unenviable task of trying to 'cure' Ricci of her sex addiction.
As the film begins, it does feel slightly self-conscious; writer/director Craig Brewer seems to be going out of his way to create a sub-Tarantino style atmosphere. Still, the humour works and as the story progresses it gradually finds its feet and you realise where things are headed. The ending may be a bit much for some, but for the most part BLACK SNAKE MOAN is a piece of watchable (if not exactly gripping) cinema.