She’s a trailer-trashy addict in a torrid romance with Justin Timberlake. And, no, we aren’t referring to Brittany Spears.
Playing the Deep South hoochy hottie Rae, it’s a very blonde, very nasty Christina Ricci. She’s slumming, writhing and hamming it up with fearless abandon as an incorrigible nymphomaniac afflicted with what the title euphemistically refers to as the “Black Snake Moan.”
Sometimes mesmerizing, sometimes sluggish and always misogynistic, this retro slice of drive-in hyperbole comes courtesy of the recently acclaimed director-writer of the similarly evocative “Hustle and Flow.” Craig Brewer deservedly came to fame by way of that rap-fueled “Rocky”-ish ghetto story two years ago. With less energy and coherence but with equal chutzpah and imagination, he returns to the racially diverse, sin-filled and music-driven land of indigent Dixie with today’s entry.
All a feminist might need to know about “Moan” to scorn it is its plot:
After her anxiety attack-ridden lover Ronnie (Timberlake) leaves town to try and make it in the military, Rae’s sex addiction gets her raped, beaten and left for dead.
A reformed sinner/farmer/bluesman named Lazarus (writ large by Samuel L. Jackson like a cross between his holier-than-thou “Pulp Fiction” hitman and the funkadelic B.B. King) discovers the nearly naked nymph in the road. He picks her up, literally chains her up like a dog to his living room radiator, and force-feeds her full of religion, homegrown corn and soul music in an attempt to rehab her. And she likes it! But when the jealous Ronnie returns home after washing out in the service, he just may not understand why his sassy white girlfriend is shacking up with a mystical old black man.
OK, so the movie is a twisted justification based on the patriarchy’s fear of the power of female sexuality. Agreed.
But filmmaker Brewer mitigates the repulsiveness of the message with a menagerie of colorfully drawn characters and a distinctive sense of place. The movie may also be about a half-hour or more too long, but its cool, down-home soundtrack and vivid, eccentric performances distract from the dubious story.
Pop star Timberlake especially stands out for his screen charisma and surprising warmth as a damaged redneck in his newly minted film career. He brings sexy back on your iPod, and in the bizarre “Black Snake Moan.”
‘Black Snake Moan’
3/5 stars
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, Justin Timberlake
Director: Craig Brewer
Rated R for strong sexual content, language, some violence and drug use
