Black Snake Moan

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I´m going to throw this out on the table right now; if you are reading this review because you have some sort of interest or crush on Christina Ricci, this film is a must own title for you. She gets naked. A lot. The R rating for "Strong Sexual Content" explicitly relates to the talented and curvy young actress. She looks quite good in the buff, even considering the actress ate nothing but sugar to achieve an unhealthy look.

Now that we´ve gotten that out of the way, for all of those out there who want to know about the movie itself, the performances and whether or not it is worthy of purchase for the complete content; I fall into the camp that thinks "Black Snake Moan" is one of the better films released so far this year. I fully believe that Samuel L. Jackson is the man. There is no doubt about that. I´m also a person that has admired much of Christina Ricci´s work since she has reached adulthood. The only reason I had some original hesitation about "Black Snake Moan" was the inclusion of Justin Timberlake. As far as my book is concerned, Timberlake will always be linked to the horrendous boy band, ´N Sync. I´m not sure I will ever be able to take him seriously as an actor or a performer after fronting ´N Sync. It is just hard to not picture him as something other than a teen love-starved, squeaky clean songster.

"Black Snake Moan" is a film about three tormented souls who all suffer from emotional flaws and an inability to completely fit into society. Rae (Christina Ricci) is a young girl who was sexually abused as a child and hops in and out of any cold bed she can find to look for love and find emotional solace from her painful past. Her boyfriend, Ronnie (Justin Timberlake) is a young man leaving for military service, but flawed for duty because of debilitating anxiety attacks. Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) is an overly religious and angry man who is recovering from terrible emotional pain after his wife left him for his younger brother. Lazarus operates his farm by his lonesome and has given up playing his guitar and his beloved blues music due to his emotional struggling and difficulty in dealing with his new lot on life.

One morning, Rae is raped, beaten and left along the roadside near Lazarus´ farm. He finds the barely clothed girl and sees she has been badly beaten. Lazarus brings Rae in and treats her wounds, but quickly finds she has a disease that will not be easy to treat. He sees her sexual torment and hopes to clean her of what is forcing her into a lifestyle that is below that of what she deserves. He looks for inner salvation by helping Rae mend her wounds, even if it means chaining her to a hot water radiator in his living room. Rae does not appreciate the chain and looks for sex wherever she can find it. Eventually, Rae finds an ally and a friend in the old and grizzled Lazarus and the two begin to help each other heal. Eventually, Ronnie is tossed from military service and returns to discover that Rae has been sleeping around and does not take too lightly to her sleeping under Lazarus´ roof.

Redemption and recovery are the principal themes of "Black Snake Moan" and these themes are intertwined with religious references and deep-meaning blues music. Rae and Lazarus are both good people, but their suffering has forced them into lifestyles that no longer fit who they truly are. This story of redemption succeeds in part to a good story by writer/director Craig Brewer, but mostly in part to the incredible performances by Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson. Ricci´s daring and baring performance shows that the actress is willing to take risks for the art of acting. Her transformation in this film into the skin of trampy trailer trash is convincing and disturbing in the honesty of her performance. Samuel L. Jackson is commanding as Lazarus. When he is strumming the guitar and belting out profanity-laced blues music, it is quite impressive. Without ignoring Mr. Timberlake, he isn´t bad, but he still comes across as a bit too squeaky clean. Thankfully, he isn´t in the film for very long.

Video:
I had first watched "Black Snake Moan" on Blu-ray before having an opportunity to screen the film on standard definition DVD. While the film is certainly better looking in high definition, Christina Ricci couldn´t have looked any better in standard definition that she does in this nice looking DVD release. The film is formatted at 2.35:1 and is an above average looking release for the standard definition format. Detail is very good and individual facial features and tattoos can be easily made out. Of course, Ricci looks stunning throughout the film and is in full display. Colors are also still stunning on standard definition. The greens and blues used in the film during the picture´s darker moments are very impressive with strong black levels and shadow detail, although the football pad scene did feel a bit weak. The film´s bright and vivid daytime scenes are just as impressive and when Sam runs over the rose garden in his tractor, it looks incredible. I admit to being spoiled by the high definition version of the film, but for those that are sticking to the tried and true DVD format, this one will not disappoint. And if you want a good look at Miss Ricci, it definitely will not disappoint.

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