Black Snake Moan

Rating: 5/10 (19 July 2018)

I remembered the title of this film, which is derived from the 1927 Blind Lemon Jefferson song, mainly because of the leading actor in it, I also knew the story had something to do with music, I read more about it, it certainly sounded intriguing. Basically Lazarus Redd (Samuel L. Jackson) a deeply religious farmer and former blues guitarist, and Rae Doole (Christina Ricci) is a young self-destructive sex addict. Lazarus has been left bitter and angry since his wife and his brother had an affair, while Rae's roughneck Guardsman boyfriend Ronnie Morgan (Justin Timberlake) leaves for deployment, in preparation for a tour of duty in Iraq. In Ronnie's absence, Rae indulges in bouts of promiscuity and drug use, during one of her binges Ronnie's friend Gill Morton (Michael Raymond-James) tries to take advantage of her. Rae starts laughing at Gill's advances, he severely beats her, believing her to be dead, he dumps and leaves her for dead, wearing only a shirt and underwear, at the side of the road and drives away. The next morning, Lazarus finds Rae unconscious in the road, he brings her into his house to nurse her back to health. Lazarus sees Tehronne (David Banner), hearing Rae speak his name, assuming he beat her, he explains Rae's promiscuous reputation. Over the next few days, Rae occasionally wakes, delirious with fever, and makes many attempts to flee, so Lazarus chains her to the radiator to keep from running away. Rae regains her wits, but Lazarus tells her he will not release her until she is healed of her sinful ways, he sees it as his spiritual duty to cure her of her demons. Rae continues her attempts to escape, and even briefly has sex with a teenage boy who helps on the farm. Lazarus' pastor and close friend, R.L. (John Cothran, Jr.), visits Lazarus at his house and discovers that Lazarus is imprisoning Rae, he tries to reason with him, but things calm down and they share a meal together. Rae eventually comes to tolerate her position, Lazarus buys her a conservative dress to wear, he plays guitar for her, and feeds her home-cooked meals. Ronnie returns to town after being discharged from the National Guard due to his severe anxiety disorder. He searches for Rae who has disappeared, Gill informs him that she has been cheating on him with many men, Robbie attacks Gill, steals his truck and continues searching for her. In the morning, Lazarus frees Rae, deciding that has no authority to pass judgement on her, she chooses to stay with him on her own will. Rae and Lazarus take a trip into town, where Rae confronts her mother Sandy (Kim Richards) about the sexual abuse she suffered from her mother's partner, this encounter turns into a brutal argument. Meanwhile, Lazarus has formed a close friendship and potential romantic connection with the local pharmacist, Angela (S. Epatha Merkerson). Lazarus decides to return to the stage for a blues concert at a local bar, which Rae attends. Ronnie spots Rae and follows her to Lazarus' house, he enters holding a gun and starts beating Lazarus, but he talks him down and summons the pastor. Ronnie and Rae reconcile and decide they are strong together than apart and get married, to the delight of Lazarus. While driving away, Ronnie suffers a panic attack and Rae has one of her spells, but they pull themselves together and resolve to take care of each other. Also starring John Cothran as Reverend R.L., Adriane Lenox as Rose Woods, Neimus K. Williams as Lincoln and Leonard L. Thomas as Deke Woods. Jackson gives an intense performance as the God-fearing man, Ricci oozes raw sexuality as the beautiful but troubled scantily dressed nymphomaniac, and Timberlake gets his moments as the equally troubled soldier. This is essentially a Deep South melodrama, a questionable story, especially the method in helping someone go cold turkey, but a refreshing morality tale exploring race, sex and the redemptive power of music, the blues playing is nice as well, it has its clichés, but overall it is an interesting drama. Worth watching!