I Review BLACK SNAKE MOAN

BLACK SNAKE MOAN Review:
Let me start with this: this is by no means a perfect movie, and it undoubtedly has its share of flaws. But even so, and even though for that reason I can't give it a flat-out "A," I can still feel confident in calling it one of my personal favorite movies so far of 2007. This is a movie that dares to be different, that doesn't care if it offends or confuses, and for that reason, come next year, it will likely not be on anyone's radar come Oscar Awards 2008. This is one of those movies, however, that will undoubtedly go down in a different sort of Hall of Fame, the one that consists of REAL movies, the kind that make young guys want to go out and make movies, the kind that bred people like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez who have that innate appreciation for the taboo, the bizarre, the provocative. Yep, we have Grindhouse on its way to theaters soon, but for a small taste of downhome and dirty grindhouse cinema, look no further than Black Snake Moan. Some will hate it, many will avoid it, but for that percentage of the movie-going population that appreciates the oddball sensibilities of a movie like this, well, Black Snake Moan is a must-see cult-favorite in the making.

To try to sum up the movie's over-the-top trappings - Black Snake Moan tells the tale of a past-his-prime Bluesman named Lazarus (Jackson), who is left by his wife for his younger brother, and finds himself alone on an isolated farm, going into town only occasionally to sell his crops. Meanwhile, Rae (Ricci) is a girl with issues, finding solace only in her oddball relationship with a naive young guy plagued by panic attacks. When her boyfriend ships out to the army, Rae loses her one touchpoint to sanity, and goes on a wild bender of sex and drugs, falling in with all manner of abusive characters. Finally, one particularly shady guy beats her up and leaves her bloodied body on a deserted road, where she is found by Lazarus. Lazarus takes her in and tries to look after her, but Rae is like a feral animal, clawing, scraping, and repeatedly offering up her body to anyone who falls within earshot. Baffled to his wit's end by this girl, Lazarus see's no other option but to chain her up to his radiator, and through the power of prayer, music, and preaching, force some sense into her. And this begins this lurid story of southern justice ... Black Snake Moan, named for a throbbing, moaning blues song - as blues is the movie and the movie is the blues.

First of all, you have Craig Brewer. With Hustle & Flow, Brewer created a movie that set a new standard for the hip-hop rags to riches genre because the entire movie pulsated with the spirit of the music. Here, Brewer accomplishes a similar feat, creating a movie that is in many ways an ode to The Blues as much as Hustle was an ode to Hip Hop music. From the opening ruminaitons on the nature of The Blues, Brewer creates a hot, sweaty, dirty atmosphere for his film that completely envelops you. This isn't our reality, let's be clear on that - this is the stylized world of Blues, built on tall tales and curses and sad, screwed-up characters. And what characters we have here ...

This is, probably, Samuel L. Jackson's best role since Pulp Fiction. It's the first starring role he's had in a long time where I was completely absorbed in THE CHARACTER, and didn't simply feel like I was watching Sam Jackson playing a version of himself. Sure, there is plenty of the trademark Jackson badassness, and few actors are able to utter a curse word with the same flippant relish of Samuel L, and we get some classic moments of that here. But this isn't a one-dimensional character, this is a far cry from Snakes on a Plane. This is a complex, tortured, bluesman - a guy who you're still trying to figure out as the movie wraps up, who you spend the entire movie trying to decipher and who constantly surprises you. This is Samuel L. Jackson with his working boots on - the polar opposite of his occasional cash-the-check-and-run roles. At the same time, this is him at his badass best. Even the scenes of Jackson playing the blues thunder with an intensity that I wasn't expecting. Great stuff from Jackson - a reminder that he really can be The Man when the role is right.

And man, Christina Ricci. Probably one of the more underrated actresses of the last several years, you have to admire her for sticking to roles that fall under the radar, away from the mainstream, and are always, always provocative. But man, you ain't seen nothing yet. This is Christina Ricci redefining the term "fearless acting." I mean, how many other actresses could pull off playing a crazed, tortured nymphomaniac who writhes like the girl in The Excorcist whenever her anxiety manifests as rabid sexuality? Ricci owns this movie. She goes toe to toe with Jackson to the point where we're actually scared for HIM even though she's the one chained to the radiator. Christina Ricci goes balls to the wall in this movie, somehow creating a character who is a psycho-nympho, a redneck pinup, and a sympathetic tortured soul all rolled into one.

The rest of the supporting cast does a great job as well. Justin Timberlake is good here for what his role is - he is supposed to be a kind of meek, in-over-his-head guy, and he pulls that off well. Everyone else does a good job and adds to Craig Brewer's down-home vision of southern gothic exploitation. The funny thing about this movie, however, is that some may be surprised at how it mixes quasi-exploitation with genuine pathos and emotion. It's like ... you know how the real versions of the Grimm Fairy Tales are in actuality very dark, violent, and disturbing? Well this is like the Grimm version of some "tall tale" you heard as a kid, Johnny Appleseed or Paul Bunyan or whatever. A distinctly American tale, Black Snake Moan reminded me a lot of Garth Ennis' PREACHER in how it mixed the profane and grotesque with a real sentimentality to create a timeless American story. Even the movie's comic-book like poster seems to pay homage to those old, forbidden EC stories that were simultaneously whacked-out exploitation and all-American morality plays.

Now, my one complaint here is that I couldn't help but feel at movie's end that SOMETHING was missing. Something about this movie just feels unexplored, incomplete, and it's hard to put my finger on what, exactly, that something is. I guess that, as far as this movie goes into the realm of lurid and provocative, it seems to stop a bit short of following its strange story to its logical extremities, instead settling for a sanitized version of events that, in the end, doesn't quite add up. I mean, one of the essential conflicts here is with Lazarus - on one hand, he's a chaste presence in the movie, acting as both a foil and a father figure to Christina Ricci's Rae. And yet, here is the guy whose wife has left him, acting as a mentor and father figure, never REALLY succumbing to Rae's come-ons or crazed sexuality ... and YET ... there he is, giving her a full-body naked spongebath. A chaste spongebath, sure, (I think?), but still - despite how clearly screwed-up and complex these characters are, I still didn't quite feel like the movie went all the way in explaining the essential contradiction of Lazarus as both a wild bluesman and a bible-thumping reformer.

Nonetheless, Black Snake Moan is filled with so many great scenes, quotable lines, and evocative imagery that it quickly won me over and never let up. As soon as the title sequence ended on a shot of waifish, devil-may-care Rae walking in traffic down a dirty road, giving the finger to the mac truck honking at her from behind, I knew that this was going to be a movie to remember. This was a movie with a unique artistic vision, an awesome, style, and two great performances from two actors who you can't help but admire. Please, go see this movie, and prove that there is room today for director's like Craig Brewer, actors like Christina Ricci, and movies like Black Snake Moan that dare to give the finger to convention and not hold back.

My Grade: A-