Very Underrated

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2007)

When I saw this for the first time I knew it was going to be either loved or hated by the audience. I don't think there is much middle ground. The plot is very simple and straightforward, and it unfolds in a predictable way. The acting isn't great, despite what you may have heard. Samuel Jackson can't sing a lick, and Christina Ricci is only mediocre in her role (though softcorily attractive. Neither actor completely nails their part nor commands the attention of the camera, and this movie suffers partly because of it.
But the lighting, cinematography, music, film editing, and direction are absolutely stellar. The character development is so deep that you feel you actually understand them in their messed-up, crazy actions, and because of it nothing seems too far-fetched or out of the ordinary, even when it is. The movie presents itself to be about sex, but it is about far more than that. It is about loss, redemption, determination, and overcoming the mere physical pleasures in life to understand the deeper meaning of love.
It is a film about music. While sitting in the theatre, I found myself lost in the poetry of the old blues lyrics. By understanding the art of blues, the audience is able to more fully comprehend what this film is about. Much like 'Hustle and Flow' tried to explain what Hip-Hop meant to it's hard-core "real" fans, 'Black Snake Moan' shows how the free-style, yet structured world of blues can act as the guiding light to those lost in the realm of physical pleasure. Blues is playing what you feel, but never straying from the main form that got you there. In the movie, the camera might stray from the norm of what we're used to seeing, but it never completely loses us. The editing, lighting, and direction is freestyle, but not in an Oliver Stone 'freakishly annoying' kind of way.
The blues is what leads to the final understanding between the two main characters. Music offers the understanding, redemption, and calmness through loss. If Sam Jackson had a better singing voice and Ricci didn't seem to force her part so much I think this movie would have been nearly a 9, but since it wasn't, my review gives it an 8.