Review of Black Snake Moan (2006) by The Panda — 20 Aug 2013

I think the main thing I got out of this was realizing that, "Wow, Samuel L. Jackson can really sing some blues!" Honestly, this movie is worth a viewing just for his awesome singing and the background music. As for the whole movie, although it's outlandish at times I really did enjoy the story (despite it treading some familiar water at times).

So the premise of the movie is Samuel L. Jackson's character finds a half naked girl beaten on the side of the road in front of his house, he takes her into his house so he can help nurse her back and when she goes delirious trying to run away he chains her up so he can force her to get better (and get her life together). Although parts of that is outlandish, and just how slutty this girl is at points in the movie can also get unbelievable it does ultimately make itself enjoyable and bring some nice themes with it. There are many parts that are almost touching, however they never seem to be able to quite get to the point to bring out real emotion, but it gets close, mostly because of Samuel L. Jackson doing a great job carrying this movie on his back.

The story is ultimately about Samuel L. Jackson's character, Lazarus, try and help this girl turn her life around because of what happened with his wife (who cheated and left him). It has some sentimentalism to it, but it never goes to far with it to make it annoying, however I have a feeling that this movie was trying a little to hard to be artsy because you get that feeling and vibe throughout most of it, but the movie itself isn't all that artsy, with it's continuous biblical allegory and symbolism, however I didn't overly mind it because it never forced it down to hard but I could see how for some it may seem to get a little preachy.

When it comes to the actual performances in this film it is fairly obvious Jackson carries the movie on his back, it is his character you connect with, it is him rocking out on the blues (which was awesome by the way), and it is his character who has the most depth which helps to carry him out of the cliches that some of the other characters seem to be placed in (although they aren't to cliche, more like borderline cliche). Also the transition in character development seemed a little rough for the girl and rushed for the character named Ronny (however that may have been because he is barely in the movie yet they try to make him super important). You don't see the connection between Rae (the girl) and Ronny, although you know about it only because the script tells you about it, and also you don't care to much about the triumph that the script tries to bring at the end because it was ultimately Ronny's triumph, a character who is borderline cameo and supporting role in the movie.

Overall, it is a decent enough movie with a nice story to it (although the base premise is a little far-fetched to actually seem realistic in a movie aiming for realism) however it is the awesome soundtrack and great performance (both vocally and acting wise) by Samuel L. Jackson that make this movie anywhere near worth watching, however with that said you ultimately leave thinking it was good, but it could have gone and been much better. 6.5/10 for Black Snake Moan.