Basically, the movie is an old-fashioned morality play, for all its lurid details.
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You've got to admit that Samuel L. Jackson seldom plays it safe. At a time in his career when he could just coast along on clichéd roles, within a year or so of each other he's played a police detective, a voice of an Afro Samurai, a supporting role as a hotel manager, a broken-down ex-prizefighter, and in "Black Snake Moan" a grizzled old jazz musician and farmer.
Add to Jackson, who is always worth watching, the curvacious Christina Ricci, who is also good; plus writer and director Craig Brewer, who had impressed everyone with his previous film, "Hustle and Flow"; plus producer (and director) John Singleton ("Boyz n the Hood"), who always impresses; plus a surprise turn by pop singer Justin Timberlake; and you get...well...not a great movie but definitely a weird one.
My colleague Dean Winkelspecht liked the film more than I did, so you might want to read his review of the Blu-ray edition if you haven't already. I found "Black Snake Moan" a strange, daring, bodacious concoction from a major studio, a film with a paper-thin plot line, bizarre, troubled characters, and an abundance of sensationalism, including sex, nudity, profanity, and violence. Yet, I have to admit there is something more compelling about the film than merely its appeal to the vulgar; there is a raw vitality that is hard to resist. It's kind of like Erskine Caldwell's "Tobacco Road" meets Tennessee Williams's "Baby Doll" done up for the twenty-first century. Sorta fun, actually, if you're not expecting anything too serious.
The story derives from the old, 1927 blues song "Black Snake Moan" by Blind Lemon Jefferson, and from a definition of the blues proposed by old-time bluesman Son House: "Two people supposed to be in love when one or the other deceives the other through their love."
Basically, the movie is an old-fashioned morality play, for all its lurid details. It's about love and redemption and the ability of people to change their ways for the better. It's even about the need for family and for strong personal relationships and mutual understanding. But mostly it's about Ms. Ricci in and out of her underwear.
The main characters are two very unhappy people living in the rural South; the movie suggests somewhere in Tennessee (where the filmmakers shot it on location). Samuel L. Jackson plays Lazarus, a former blues guitarist living on a small farm, a man whose wife has just left him for his brother. That'll always get you down. You'll recall that the Bible describes two different people named Lazarus, one of them in the parable of the rich man and the beggar (Luke 16:19-31) and the other more famous fellow whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:1-44). I suspect the filmmakers mean for us to think of Lazarus rising from the dead here, because our own Lazarus begins the movie in a fit of depression and ends up redeemed.
Christina Ricci plays Rae, a beautiful young sexpot in a constant state of heat, whose boyfriend (played by Justin Timberlake) has just left for the army. Being alone for a good four hours, she panics and begins partying with every male in the state. It's no surprise she winds up raped, beaten, and left by the side of the road.
And the side of the road just happens to be in front of Lazarus's farm, where he finds her and takes her in. Once he understands her condition, he determines to save her from herself, cure not only her cuts and bruises but her nymphomania as well. He figures she's possessed by demons, and to help her out, he chains her to a radiator.
If this sounds over-the-top, it is. The only way to appreciate the film is to take it humorously. The plot turns into a battle of wills and a literal tug-of-war between two set minds. He means to salvage her despite herself, and she does her best to seduce him.
Ah, but Samuel L. Jackson is above such seductions. He might be despondent, but he's as morally straight as the day is long. In the process of saving her everlasting soul, he manages to recover his own dignity and make up for his own past sins. By the time the movie's over, "Black Snake Moan" turns so sweet and appealing that it's really hard to dislike.
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