| Overall Grade: |
C+ |
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| Story: |
C- |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
B- |
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Moan Might Make You Holler One Way Or Another
by Eric (movies profile)
Sep 7, 2007
10
of
12 people found this review helpful
I think that Craig Brewer knew that Black Snake Moan,, his follow-up to the triumphant Hustle and Flow, would polarize his audiance. What do you expect when you have your premise has a young sexy white nymphomaniac chained up to black man's home? Some will scream that Brewer's film masogonystic and racist, but that would be incorrect. Some will see this being a study of race and sex in a poverty-stricken South, which is also wrong. In my humble opinion, I believe that Craig Brewer had a good idea, but didn't know exactly what to do with it. But darned if he doesn't work it to the bone.
Black Snake Moan is about two very tortured creatures of their environment, one being farmer/bluesman Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson), who runs a small farm and barters his veggies to get the things he needs. His wife has just left him for his brother, making him achingly bitter to the point that even the local preacher (John Cothran Jr.) brings him no comfort. There might be romance between him and the local pharmacist (S. Epatha Merkerson) Then, there's Rae (Chistina Ricci), the nymphomanic whose true love (Justin Timberlake) is going off to the Coast Guard, leaving her alone to her own devices. She is tortured by her past that involves sexual abuse which might or might not be the cause of her current appitites.
Let's just skip the vivid details and just say that it doesn't take her a day to find herself beaten by a jilted lover and left on the side of dirt road for dead. That's where Lazarus finds her one day when taking out his trash. He nurses her back to health while she goes though feverish panics and moments of clarity. While doing so, he gets to know more about her by asking around. "She's got this sickness. She's gotta have it." one of her lovers tells the older man. Being a man who believes that his life is directly linked into God's will, he sees it as his job to "cure her of her wickedness". That's where the chain comes in.
When Rae becomes cognant, it doesn't take her long to realize her situation. At first, she tries to reason with Lazarus. Then she tries to offer herself. Lazarus is not interested in such things. Then she tries to escape. Let's just say that you've got to admire how sturdy them old-fashioned pipes are. Lazarus buys her decent dresses to wear and decent meals to eat. She lashes out in feverish sexual attempts that are more desperate than anything. But interesting enough, she finds comfort in the chain that imprisons her. When the preacher finally talks sense into Lazarus, he removes the chain and Rae stays with him voluntarily, taking an active step towards her own liberation from her addiction. It ultimately comes down to some great blues and Rae's boyfriend coming back home too soon to round us out to one of the worst endings of ALL time.
First of all, I will say that this film sports some great photography with many of the low angles and sweeping shots that gave Hustle and Flow an edge. Cinematographer Amy Vincent sets up some great moments, including the most memorable scene where Lazarus pulls out his guitar and starts to wail against a thunderstorm outside. This scene would be silly if the song wasn't so powerful that we would believe that it strengthen a force of nature outside. Like Hustle and Flow, the music is important to essence of the film. The Blues played by Jackson is a means of surfacing old wounds and excorsing demons that both he and his prisoner are chained to.
It wasn't only the ending that was wrong with movie, but it was the final straw that dropped my thumb south-bound. But then, I could also that the first ten minutes of the movie also needed to be cut off. Do we really need to see the wife leave him? There's a great scene where Lazarus mows his wife's flowerbed over that says more than that scene could possibly do. On top of that, this scene never really has a pay-off, especially after he basically damns (as in Old-Testament) his wife for leaving him. And while the chain obviously has a metaphorical purpose, strangely enough, there's not enough time with her actually in the chains to make the metaphor work. Then the subplot of the maybe romance between Jackson and Merkerson really wasn't given enough room to work. By the time we get to the ending, the really great moments are finally overwhelmed by the bad and we are left unsatisfied.
Jackson and Ricci give some of the most profound performances in their careers. Jackson's Lazarus is dangerous and yet prophetic. He doesn't allow us easy passage into this damaged soul, yet we find ourselves enraptured to him. Ricci gives Rae a sympathy that is rarely seen for this kind of character. With nymphomania, usually it is seen as either something seen as fun or disgusting, depending on the demographic studios are going for. But she's a real woman dealing with a very devistating emotional disease. John Cothran Jr gives a splindid performance as a preacher caught in the middle of this craziness. And believe it or not, even Justin Timberlake might just make for a great actor given time and molding by a great director.
For all that Writer-Director Craig Brewer does right and wrong, I still admire his ability to make a movie like this. Is this an exploitation flick? Yes, but it's trying to elevate the genre into a character study of damaged people. He certainly shows he has the chops to make great features, but next time he needs to stay away from the Tyler Perry approach of saturating his messages to obviousness and just let his characters act and say what they would normally say. Then maybe we would have the ending that would feel more true.
All in all, this a rare film that I cannot recommend for the life of me, but if those rare film-goers happen to find themselves near a showing, then it might be an interesting evening. If anything else, you'll have your say in what I feel is the first of many controversial films this year. And that's certainly nothing to moad about. |
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