Black Snake Moan

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, & Justin Timberlake

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Samuel L. Jackson is legendary and he has the unique ability to turn even a strange movie like this, into something that is worth watching. Black Snake Moan is a really ridiculous story, full of odd symbolism that just really doesn't make any sense. Jackson plays Lazarus, a loner who lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. He's a deeply religious man, whose wife just left him for his brother. Lazarus responded to this by locking himself away and putting all he has into his farm. One morning he finds a badly beaten girl, with a reputation, laying in the road and decides to help her, but he soon comes to believe that this girl is possessed and that God sent her too him for help. Not knowing what to do, Lazarus takes this sex crazed, drug addict and chains her to the wall of his house. Throughout this film, there are all kinds of symbols that don't make any sense. There are scenes featuring an old blues singer talking nonsense, scenes of the town that we almost never see, and perhaps strangest of all, there are moles added to Jackson's face, something you don't see except it cases of a biography. As for the performances, they were terrific, This is the best performance I've ever seen Christina Ricci give and she really gave Jackson a run for his money. Jackson, was also great, giving what you expect to see from him, albeit with less swearing than usual. The performances were really the only thing this film did have going for it as the events that take place just don't make any sense. The film jumps around, leaving things unfinished, and personalities seem to change as often as the wind blows. It's a pet peeve of mine, but I really hate when great performances are wasted on a film that is so poorly written, that it's almost unwatchable. Black Snake Moan is sloppy, jumps around without finishing things, and at times just doesn't make sense. It was an interesting idea with a terrific cast, but the people behind it were clearly in way over their head and just didn't really seem to know where they were going or even what they were doing.