Black Snake Moan

Craig Brewer, director of the critically acclaimed film Hustle and Flow, has given us another southern urban drama with his much anticipated follow-up film, Black Snake Moan. As with Hustle and Flow, Brewer focuses on the lives and evolution of people usually ignored in mainstream film with this story of two troubled characters, Lazarus and Rae, and the unlikely friendship that forms between them after a violent event, amidst lots of heartache, anger, and, of course, the blues.

When Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) meets Rae (Christina Ricci), he is full of bitterness, hurt and rage over his wife's recent departure with his younger brother. Supposedly a God-fearing, blues-playing man, Lazarus is now angry at God and pushes all those close to him, including his Reverend, away. Rae's boyfriend Ronnie (Justin Timberlake) has just departed for Iraq, leaving them both apprehensive about the future. We assume that they love each other, and before he goes, Ronnie buys them identical watches so that every time their watches beep, they feel connected to one another.

Despite this touching attempt to make the situation more bearable, Rae is unable to cope with her fear and sadness over Ronnie's absence by drowning her sorrows in sex and drugs the night he leaves. She is beaten and left on theside of the road, where Lazarus finds her the next morning. Frightened to take Rae to the hospital because of the possibility that officials will look at him, a black man, as the assailant of this white woman, Lazarus decides to nurse her back to health in his home. He quickly learns that Rae's reputation as the town slut, aided by her Daisy Dukes shorts, cut-off shirts, and bad attitude, is due to her nymphomania sickness; he is convinced that God put Rae in his path to cure her of her wicked ways by any means necessary, even if he has to chain her to a radiator to stop her from running away.

While both Jackson and Ricci turn in captivating performances and are supported by a talented cast and a soul-stirring blues soundtrack, one cannot help but ask of the story--what is the point? Brewer states that Black Snake Moan is the story about the blues, love, and relationships, but the film often appears more interested in provocation for provocation's sake, rarely exploring the complexities of these people, their pain and their relationships. In addition, there are holes in the script: for example, we never understand why Lazarus quit playing the blues, which is significant given that a crucial turning point for his character and the film is marked when he starts playing his guitar again. What significant change in Rae does Lazarus see when, after wearing a dress he buys for her, he decides she no longer needs to be chained up in his home? Rae also would have been more interesting if the reasons leading to her nymphomania were not so cliché.

While the director maintains that race did not influence the casting of characters, violence that erupts from white men's anger over the thought of Rae having sex with black men clearly contradicts this. Either the director is not interested in publicly discussing his views on race and gender relations in the modern South, or was more interested in capturing audience attention with provocative images lacking substance. Black Snake Moan will definitely entertain and stir debate, but it leaves much to be imagined.

                                                               Misa Dayson