Review of Black Snake Moan (2006) by Vivienne C — 06 Aug 2009
Why can't every little girl have Samuel L Jackson sing her raspy southern lullabies with his guitar? I totally forgot I saw this film until today, so I watched it again. The first time, I was basically expecting a really bad porno a la Showgirls.
(I mean, the plot teaser is: BLACK MAN CHAINS CRAZY WHITE NYMPHO GIRL TO HIS RADIATOR And the tagline is : Everything is hotter down south!) For the first 15 minutes, I was right. And then I was dead wrong for the rest of it.
Turns out, Black Snake Moan is a character-driven story about spiritual redemption in the form of good ol' blues music. Christina Ricci, the nympho, and Samuel L Jackson (who is tired of appearing in motherfucking movies with MOTHERFUCKING SNAKE TITLES!) have a chemistry-packed pseudosexual, father-daughter relationship (like Natalie Portman/ Jean Reno in Leon: The Professional), but I didn't care for Justin Timberlake being all pansy/whiny white boy.
Some people will balk at the gratuitous sex and violence, but this is a movie centered around the music, and while I'm no expert in blues, I know it's never been too shy about sex/violence (Usually involving a woman who cheated on her man and now he's gonna put a pistol to her head).
So, I suppose it fits. The movie is full of grit, and though it might dip into stereotypes about trailer trash white people and god-fearing black people, Black Snake Moan surprised me by actually being a decent film.
(Note: I have not seen Craig Brewer's other work, Hustle&Flow, but its on my netflix now.).
This review of Black Snake Moan (2006) was written by Vivienne C on 06 Aug 2009.
Black Snake Moan has generally received positive reviews.
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