Monday, March 19, 2007

Films In Boston (Part II)


After Zodiac - and I mean directly after - I took in Black Snake Moan. Some of you probably know this as the Samuel-Jackson-has-Christina-Ricci-chained-to-a-radiator-movie. Wish I could say there was more to it. I mean, there is, but there could have been so much more. Jackson is a cuckold, whose younger wife just dumped him for his younger brother. Ricci is an honest-to-goodness nymphomaniac(!), whose fiance just left their small town to ship out to Iraq. Through a chain of events, a battered Ricci winds up at Jackson's home, and he decides it's up to him to cure her of her devilish ways.

Now, that's a classic set-up. I could clearly imagine a slightly tamer version coming out back in the '30's. (Of course, Jackson's character would've been white, but that's another story....) Here was a solid opportunity to explore each of their damaged characters, to get deep inside each, rather than just the usual "I was abused" pap that I thought had gone the way of bad TV movies. Well, instead writer-director Craig Brewer - who helmed the much-praised Hustle and Flow back in 2005 - decides to bring the fiance back into the story, thus giving us another half-ass character story that also takes away screentime and focus from Jackson and Ricci. And did I mention that the fiance is played by Justin Timberlake? Truthfully, he's an okay actor in this part. It's just unfortunate that what ultimately results either is just all too predictable or feels like Brewer ran out of ideas.

Can I say anything nice about this movie? Yes. Sam Jackson can sing some mean blues. Was there ever any doubt? If he's on the soundtrack, I can recommend it. Also, Christina Ricci is about the nicest looking piece of white trash we could have hoped for. File this under missed opportunities.

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