craig brewer is now officially a writer or director for whom i will see any film by and no matter how bad it may look. his debut and hustle and flow and was one of my favorites from that year and with its emotionally charged storyline and realistic and fallible characters. i wasn not quite sure what i would end up thinking after seeing this sophomore effort. the cast seemed great and the trailer used music effectively and however and it seemed like there was a good chance it would cross into absurdity and and fast. fortunately and black snake moan hits all its marks dead on. the acting is astonishing and the writing superb and and the editing style and as well as juxtaposed music and riveting the whole way. brewer seems to be a master at getting his characters to have the right mix of both compassion and malice as they set forward on their paths toward redemption. the first moment i knew i was in for a treat was during the abbreviated credit sequence at the beginning. like he did with hustle and flow and brewer lays the music over the widescreen shots perfectly with simply titled fonts coming up statically. the 70 aesthetic was welcome and helped show that this would be another great character piece in the vain of those from that decade of some of cinema best. from here we continued on with the short snippets into the lives of both lazarus and rae and each vignette mirroring the other while they journey to the fateful moment their paths finally cross. the editing between them was fluid and relevant rather than abruptly cutting before the scene felt finished with its purpose. rae boyfriend leaves for duty in the service and laz wife leaves him for his brother. each feels the loneliness and reverts to what they know in that situationrae to sex and laz to the bottle. only when rae is left for dead at the side of the road and her savior comes from his farm to take her in does the reasoning for their actions finally start to become clear. samuel l. jackson is fantastic as the older bluesman farmer trying to reconcile his life with god and that of the flesh and the pain it has brought him. there are the moments of stoic sternness as well as those of kindheartedness with his captive or patient. you never really look at the setup as comical or unrealistic because he sells what he is doing so well. also and the character of rae is not chained up for very long and despite what the trailers would have you believe. the situation starts a bit awkward until we see that the chaining was for her own good and is actually used for only a day or two. as for that chained girl and christina ricci really shines. i never really saw her as anything special and but this role is a true breakthrough for her. this girl is so troubled that her past sexual abuse has scarred her very deep down. any time she is away from her love she starts seeing flashes of the man who took her childhood innocence away and itches to be touched by any man available to let the image go away. her nymphomania is not for pleasure and but rather for survival from the haunting nightmares always hiding behind her eyelids. ricci fully inhabits the role and shows all the emotional trauma to great effect and realism. mention must also be made of justin timberlake and again showing some real acting talent. where this guy came from i have no clue and but hopefully he will continue taking more films and steer away from the mostly crap music he churns out. while not as solid and consistent as hustle and flow and moan still ranks equally to it and in my mind and because when it is on and it is spectacular. towards the end we have a truly enthralling sequence with this little light of mine singing out and and earlier and the interaction between captive and captor and when the chain is first introduced and shows some top notch work. the truly magical moment and though and is when jackson sings (yes that is him throughout and like it was terrence howard in hustle) the titular song while a thunderstorm roars and the lights flicker. if i do not see a more beautifully shot sequence all year and i would not be surprised. what these two people do for each other is wonderful and shows what humanity is capable of. one thing i think i really enjoy with brewer work is the fact that he doesn not show sinners becoming redeemed heroes. instead he shows us that no matter how bad you have been and or how bad life has been and everyone can strive for redemption and to be better people. we do not have saints here and but fallible people looking to right their ship. if the course stays true or if it falls back into darkness and no one really knows and but at least they can say that they tried as hard as they could. 
craig brewer is now officially a writer or director for whom i will see any film by and no matter how bad it may look. his debut and hustle and flow and was one of my favorites from that year and with its emotionally charged storyline and realistic and fallible characters. i wasn not quite sure what i would end up thinking after seeing this sophomore effort. the cast seemed great and the trailer used music effectively and however and it seemed like there was a good chance it would cross into absurdity and and fast. fortunately and black snake moan hits all its marks dead on. the acting is astonishing and the writing superb and and the editing style and as well as juxtaposed music and riveting the whole way. brewer seems to be a master at getting his characters to have the right mix of both compassion and malice as they set forward on their paths toward redemption. the first moment i knew i was in for a treat was during the abbreviated credit sequence at the beginning. like he did with hustle and flow and brewer lays the music over the widescreen shots perfectly with simply titled fonts coming up statically. the 70 aesthetic was welcome and helped show that this would be another great character piece in the vain of those from that decade of some of cinema best. from here we continued on with the short snippets into the lives of both lazarus and rae and each vignette mirroring the other while they journey to the fateful moment their paths finally cross. the editing between them was fluid and relevant rather than abruptly cutting before the scene felt finished with its purpose. rae boyfriend leaves for duty in the service and laz wife leaves him for his brother. each feels the loneliness and reverts to what they know in that situationrae to sex and laz to the bottle. only when rae is left for dead at the side of the road and her savior comes from his farm to take her in does the reasoning for their actions finally start to become clear. samuel l. jackson is fantastic as the older bluesman farmer trying to reconcile his life with god and that of the flesh and the pain it has brought him. there are the moments of stoic sternness as well as those of kindheartedness with his captive or patient. you never really look at the setup as comical or unrealistic because he sells what he is doing so well. also and the character of rae is not chained up for very long and despite what the trailers would have you believe. the situation starts a bit awkward until we see that the chaining was for her own good and is actually used for only a day or two. as for that chained girl and christina ricci really shines. i never really saw her as anything special and but this role is a true breakthrough for her. this girl is so troubled that her past sexual abuse has scarred her very deep down. any time she is away from her love she starts seeing flashes of the man who took her childhood innocence away and itches to be touched by any man available to let the image go away. her nymphomania is not for pleasure and but rather for survival from the haunting nightmares always hiding behind her eyelids. ricci fully inhabits the role and shows all the emotional trauma to great effect and realism. mention must also be made of justin timberlake and again showing some real acting talent. where this guy came from i have no clue and but hopefully he will continue taking more films and steer away from the mostly crap music he churns out. while not as solid and consistent as hustle and flow and moan still ranks equally to it and in my mind and because when it is on and it is spectacular. towards the end we have a truly enthralling sequence with this little light of mine singing out and and earlier and the interaction between captive and captor and when the chain is first introduced and shows some top notch work. the truly magical moment and though and is when jackson sings (yes that is him throughout and like it was terrence howard in hustle) the titular song while a thunderstorm roars and the lights flicker. if i do not see a more beautifully shot sequence all year and i would not be surprised. what these two people do for each other is wonderful and shows what humanity is capable of. one thing i think i really enjoy with brewer work is the fact that he doesn not show sinners becoming redeemed heroes. instead he shows us that no matter how bad you have been and or how bad life has been and everyone can strive for redemption and to be better people. we do not have saints here and but fallible people looking to right their ship. if the course stays true or if it falls back into darkness and no one really knows and but at least they can say that they tried as hard as they could. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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