Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a bad case of the blues. His wife has left him, and he hasn't quite come to grips with the fact that she prefers another man.
Rae (Christina Ricci) has an itch for sex. Her boyfriend, Ronnie (Justin Timberlake), has left for military duty, and she's fallen back on self-destructive behavior. One day, Lazarus finds Rae beaten and unconscious on a rural Tennessee road.
Taking her into his home, he becomes determined to cure her nymphomania. The treatment involves chaining her to his radiator. Written and directed by Craig Brewer, "Black Snake Moan" is an engagingly offbeat tale of redemption.
It's a foregone conclusion that righteous bluesman Lazarus and his reluctant houseguest will come to an understanding. But Brewer, whose last feature was "Hustle Flow," keeps things intriguingly off-kilter. The result is a comedy-drama that improbably but persuasively blends the flamboyance of a Tennessee Williams melodrama with the grittiness of a '70s blaxploitation flick.
If the ending is something of a letdown, it's also lifelike in its ambiguity. Jackson is in fine form, simmering with intensity while occasionally slipping into sly humor. It's his most outrageously entertaining performance since "Pulp Fiction.
" In a role that calls for raunchiness, Ricci delivers the goods. Through sheer force of personality, she goes a long way toward fleshing out the somewhat underwritten Rae. Because of its spectacularly wrongheaded ad campaign featuring a chained and scantily clad Ricci "Black Snake Moan" may not attract the audience it deserves.
Folks who relish sleaze will be disappointed. And those who don't will miss a film that's considerably sweeter than it is sweaty.
News RSS