10 of 11

by Jaclyn C. Stevenson

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"We will not be moved."
That's one of many memorable lines delivered by Samuel L. Jackson in Black Snake Moan, in this case spoken to a rusty radiator.

It's a nice departure from the standard 'hell, nos' and 'bad-mother-f*kers' we're used to from Jackson, love them as we might.

But in this case, Jackson portrays Lazarus, a broken man after his wife leaves him for his brother, who quietly tends his crops, eats lonely dinners and occasionally tries to pick at his guitar, proof of a heyday in the blues that has long since passed.

Enter Christina Ricci to shake things up. Ricci is Rae, a small town, row-house study in promiscuity and nymphomania, who, instead of quietly coping with her boyfriend's (Justin Timberlake) exit for the Army, picks her best Confederate-flag t-shirt and rolls with the girls to a kegger.

A few beers and a few handfuls of prescription drugs later, Ricci is doing some extracurricular work on a football field with half of the team - and it only gets hazier from there.

Once the characters have been introduced, in the most inconvenient way possible for both parties, Jackson and Ricci settle into their roles. He is a far-from-perfect but nevertheless decent man who maintains a tenuous relationship with God, and she is an ailing, stubborn banshee who even in her softest moments carries a jagged edge.

Overall, they're successful in this film. Jackson achieves more depth than he was allowed to in Pulp Fiction, and a bony, underfed Ricci pulls off tortured, wilting-Southern-lily-with-a-smoker's-cough without a seam.

There are some slow moments, which interestingly enough are punctuated at times by a few gratuitous f-bombs courtesy of Jackson. It seems that the powers-that-be just couldn't see him in a movie without them.

There are also a few predictable moments, which are forgivable due to the solid acting on the part of both the leads and the supporting cast. However, they add to the overall drag during those slow times, when what seems obvious to the audience takes 10 minutes to dawn on the characters.

Still, Timberlake turns in a reliable performance as a would-be soldier with anxiety issues, and S. Epatha Merkerson, of Law and Order fame, adds a little lightness to the dark subject matter we're exposed to through Lazarus and Rae.

John Cothran, who serves as an anchor of sorts as Laz's friend, the Preacher R.L., probably gives the best performance of the movie, given the fact that every time he walks on screen, the plot thickens right in front of his face and he's forced to deal with it like any man would, but with the reserve a reverend must exhibit.

Overall, Black Snake Moan lives up to its darkly hip, girl-in-chains marketing campaign. With Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) serving as screenwriter and director and John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood) as lead producer, it's no surprise that the film is well-filmed, dark, multi-faceted, and artistic. It also has an intriguing soundtrack that includes Jackson singing froggy-blues, and it wraps a fair amount of sub-plots without losing the audience or detracting from Laz and Rae's unlikely friendship.

As for Jackson's memorable moments, his best are those when a little bit of wisdom breaks through Lazarus' lips and almost seems to surprise him as much as us, even when spoken quietly to a rusty radiator.

Learn more about this author, Jaclyn C. Stevenson.

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