"Black Snake Moan" (2006) - Movie Review

Bringing up two entirely different people of different age and back ground to gel to form a bond has been in the field of movie for many years. The directors are able to bring the flavour and profound ness in it now and then with success. There was “Good Will Hunting” with a psychologist who connects with a tough and brilliant kid. There was “Finding Forrester” in which another young brilliant boy helps and gets help to and from an old famous writer. It is strange that Gus Van Sant was able to produce those films very successfully. While in both the movies all the characters wanted to help each other there always had this internal self achievement to themselves and “Black Snake Moan” is different in that. The characters in the movie do not act on what they need in life, rather they believe the life is like this and it should happen in a certain right manner. Some of them give up and others try to keep the “given ups” running. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake, “Black Snake Moan” is directed by Craig Bewer.

Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) feels he has hit dead end when his wife leaves him for his brother. Rae (Christina Ricci) is hit back with her child hood sexual abuse when her boyfriend Ronnie (Justin Timberlake) goes to army and she is alone. Both of them are a mess. Rae could not control her urges to suffice her unknown sexual tendencies while Lazarus is trying to get back to the peace which has been swept off. These extreme far end characters in a different plane get to meet and rest is the movie.

Laz is a god fearing blues guitarist who feels pressure and confusion due to some continuous preaching from Reveren R.L (John Cothran Jr.). When Laz meets the injured and disturbed Rae, he wants to change her. There is good will in doing it, but it is mainly to bring his life to normal too. Laz thinks that changing her will in turn bring some good things in his life. He feels he can find some answers to the questions which are not there at all. He just reacts to the situation and hence helps her. Rae on the other hand is confused and got so deep in to the ditch that there is no remorse. She got so injured with the guilt surrounding her further that she could not even see herself in the mirror. Both of them have nothing in common. The viewers constantly expect the worst to happen for some reason. Maybe the Hollywood movies have tuned movies like this so hard in viewers’ mind that all they need is a bad to worse situation. The movie needs to be appreciated for not letting it into further miserable situations. On the other hand it does not give the contention of everything is fine scenario too.

The film starts off with a slow note and rides on it very fine. There are no intense moments or startling twists. It is plain and simple hot atmosphere in which the viewers wait for these two characters to meet. The movie progresses at a pace wherein nothing is comfortable yet sub consciously likeable. The film is bland for definite but there is a reason for it. The character back ground and their knowledge makes them low toned and submissive. The movie circles in between the reality and the cinematic boosted sentiments in very close range. This makes it a little bit touchy and rest less during the sequences of start and then somewhere in the middle of it.

There are two things in movie which bring out the best. First is Samuel L. Jackson as a man in a confused state of mind after his wife leaves him and he showcases his talent for acting. He demonstrates that he can ride on both worlds of illogical high entertainment and high caliber character movies. Second is the usage of Blues as the theme for the movie. I have not listened to Blues but the movie made sure that I will be exploring the unusual tone of it, after watching it. Dead on soundtrack and do watch out when Samuel L. Jackson loosens himself on the stage in the club. Christina Ricci as Rae is wickedly cute. She is able to bring in the disturbed kid into this messed up young girl Rae. She brings the broken bridge, Rae is walking on. Playing Rae as a kid who knows what she is doing with the guilt eating her inside is not an easy walk and Christina is able to handle it nicely. The weakest link and a man out of place in this movie is Justin Timberlake as Ronnie. There is a prejudiced opinion that he is not able to act but the problems for him go beyond that. There are some evidences of improvement in him but he needs to work hard and it means “real” hard. The character of Ronnie may not have the essential substance but it definitely compliments the character of Rae. Justin was not able to compliment that well.

The viewers neither love the film nor hate it. The film’s atmosphere is hot and humid while the content is humid all the way. The director did not want to concentrate on the child hood tortures of Rae but points out that a couple of days of listening ears would do a lot of good for her. As a movie, “Black Snake Moan” rides on the shoulders of Samuel L. Jackson and he took the responsibility well. But the film falls short as one which would not give the feeling of lingering in the viewers mind after they come out of the movie hall. There is couple of sequences which balances those factors, but those couple does not elevate the movie as it would have been. The film is a good attempt but not a great one.