A Nutshell Review: Black Snake Moan

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2007)

This movie oozes sexiness, attitude and wacky fun, with loads of quirkiness all round. With stars Justin Timberlake, Christina Ricci and Samuel L Jackson, Black Snake Moan is a movie with some of the more unconventional characters put on screen, and with Jackson on board, you can be sure that he brings forth some of that mo-fo traits that features prominently in his movies.
Ricci plays Rae, the village bicycle who is ridden by almost everyone in town. And I really mean almost everyone. We'll find out the reason how this condition was inflicted, but in the meantime, she's more than eager to shed her clothes to get her sexual fix, or doesn't bat an eyelid to prostitute herself to feed her drug addiction. With her white trash reputation, only her love for Ronnie (Timberlake) is true, but that doesn't stop her from cheating on him behind his back.
Jackson's Lazarus has just emerged from a broken marriage, the victim of being cheated upon. A God-fearing man, I would've half expected he start to recite some verses in the Bible while blowing someone's brains off (oh wait, that's the other movie). But nonetheless here's Jackson in his element, and the story gets hastened when he finds Rae near his home, half naked and battered. Not knowing what else to do, and taking it as a signal from God, he takes it upon himself to nurse Rae back to health, and through religion and friendship, tries to exorcise those evil demons within her.
And he does so by firstly, chaining her up. While there are suggestive shades of S&M here, there's nothing kinky about it, so don't expect Jackson and Ricci steaming up the screens. Much against her wishes to have her movements restricted, Lazarus "will not be moved!" in inflicting cold-turkey styled treatments on Rae, and most of the fun comes in when they go head to head in a battle of wills.
But as expected, a deep friendship ensues, and Lazarus becomes a surrogate father of sorts, which brings us to other highly anticipated moments in the movie, when Jackson sings the blues! Armed with his guitar, perhaps those segments are the most entertaining of the lot, when he goes into full swing and performs with cool, slick attitude to boot. I haven't heard of any blues tunes with profanity, and only Samuel L. Jackson does it best when on form!
And what of Timberlake you say? He plays the lovelorn boy who volunteers for the army, and for the most parts is not on screen. Not surprising too is that he doesn't sing anything (as per his role in Shrek 3), and his character is actually a wussy. This movie definitely played on Ricci and Jackson's strengths and chemistry, which they have delivered most excellently.
Sex, violence, and Samuel L Jackson. Now aren't those reasons enough to watch Black Snake Moan? It doesn't take itself too seriously, so as long as you're not expecting some Oscar worthy material, you're in for a rip-roaring heckuva ride.