PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "Black Snake Moan" (Paramount Vantage)

Yes, or so the story goes. Or perhaps some re-wording is in order:

Left to her own devices, in the words of Austin Powers, Rae would shag the shade out of a tree, so desperate is she for some instantaneous satisfaction. (At this point, do any women reading this review care to say what a man would do if in a similar position as Rae?) She is sexed up to the tuned of the whistling wind.

Driving Miss Daisy? Samuel L. Jackson as Laz, who tries to reform Rae (Christina Ricci) of her wicked sexual addictions and cravings, in "Black Snake Moan."
(Photo: Paramount Vantage)

Though the music and visuals of Southern heat and discomfort and a solid performance from Mr. Jackson are the strongest aspects of "Black Snake Moan," the stories of these two lead characters - three if you include Mr. Timberlake's National Guardsman-stationed-in-Iraq-character -- just don't mesh. So much more could have been done with the potentially provocative material Mr. Brewer has before him. Instead, in the director's hands any semblance of provocation turns offensive and pulpy. (Imagine what Melvin Van Peebles could have done with this material.)

There's a "Barbarella" aspect to the film, only here Barbarella spends much time on all fours and in chains. (Camille Paglia, where are you?)

"Black Snake Moan" spends its time trying to be a B-movie (read: whitexploitation movie) and largely succeeds. When Carly Simon once sang "Nobody Does It Better" she should have substituted the words "white" and "trash" for the word "it", but then her classic song would have wound up a calamity.

The script has to take the blame here -- it is smart enough to draw Laz well, but weak enough to place him in situations that either don't make sense or need further re-writing drafts. Why is Laz helping Rae? What investment does he get? Is their relationship so without nuance as to be merely artificial? Is there any potential for them to fall for each other after all the hell they've both been through? (At least with this last question the film answers by bucking the Hollywood trend.)

As for Rae, she's a one-dimensional nymph for lack of a better term (or oxymoron), and the putrid backstory about her abuse as a child at the hands of a faceless father, dispatched in such a weak and unconvincing way through two minutes of dialogue in one scene that appears to come from out of left field at Yankee Stadium, does the topic of incest survivors a huge disservice. The way the script introduces this is done as a throwaway -- and a conveniently lazy method in the effort to employ melodrama. It's not that Mr. Brewer owes anything in particular to incest survivors; he just owes the audience that invests 116 minutes in his film a credible story that has been through more re-writes.

"Black Snake Moan" opened on March 2 in North America, delayed one week from its original February 23 opening date. (Any guesses why?) The film has several sex scenes (and a scene resembling rape) in its first hour, which is why it is obviously rated R for strong sexual content, language, some violence and drug use. The film's duration, as stated, is one hour and 56 minutes. The film is released by Paramount Vantage and Paramount Pictures.