It is a performances centric movie

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

In rural Mississippi, Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) is a fire and brimstone blues musician farmer. He's full of rage especially after his younger wife leaves him for his brother. Rae (Christina Ricci) is a wild sex addict who is struggling after her boyfriend Ronnie (Justin Timberlake) leaves for the military. She gets trashed at a party and left on the side of the road. Lazarus finds her bloodied unconscious body and tries to treat her. He finds that she's got the Sickness and chains her to the radiator to keep her from running away.Some take offense to the perceived misogyny and the sexual content. I don't dispute other's perceptions. Everybody is entitled to their own. The movie can definitely be seen through that light. It's actually kind of funny with a potent mix of southern style, sex and religion. The two actors are dynamos powering a very charged movie.

This movie is nothing like I expected it to be after seeing the trailer; less kinky, less dirty, admittedly, than the "theme" of having a young chick chained up in an aging man's house might evoke. It ended up being a pleasant surprise, a good watch. Acting is excellent, especially Ricci and Jackson, but even Timberlake surprised me by a good, human performance. All the characters who appear are believable.The makers did a good job on accuracy; a girl who gets hit still has a bruise days later, things don't miraculously disappear overnight.The whole film breathes, exudes the atmosphere of blues, of the American south really, really well. The imagery is at times so evocative you can almost feel the sun and smell the soil and the hot summer air. While a drama and at times grim, and definitely not a sappy Hollywood comedy, this passes as a 'feel good movie' to which I'm likely to return (re-watch).And the soundtrack is to die for. Pure epic.

(57%) First off straight away the movie doesn't work, it leans too heavily into exploitation sleaze as well as lacking real substance for it to be in any way a thoughtful drama, and it's not entertaining enough, and dare I say it, too well made/performed for it to be truly fun drive-in movie throwback. What comes painfully close to saving this movie is Mr Samuel L. Jackson giving one of his better performances yet, he really is superb; while Christina Ricci puts out a no holding back performance of a character who wouldn't be out of place in a 1970's softcore sex picture with the direction almost ogling her largely semi-nude screen time at every opportunity. For the performances alone this is just about worth a look, but it's not a repeat watch or something that needs to be seen.

Sitting about bored i decided to search Netflix for a film and whilst scrolling along the title "Black Snake Moan" caught my eye. I had seen this film when it was released, but as i was younger it didn't invoke as much interest as it did now. This film is sensational. The story is riveting and what can be said about Samuel L Jackson and Christina Ricci? Both knocking it out of the park; completely in sync with each other....in sync....N SYNC!!!!! Which brings me to Justin bloody Timberlake.This guy is a scene sucking, drama devouring waste of space. I just cannot comprehend why, why any director would sacrifice the overall brilliance of a film by casting someone because of their success in another field of entertainment. He is a singer!!!! Not an actor. He is terrible. Every "emotion" he extracts shows this obvious desperation and it is a punch to the face of the viewer. Watching two powerhouse performances and then a little cretin coming onto scene and destroying the credibility that was once soaring to great heights. Brought back down to earth with a FUD. By the end of the film i was trying to hold onto all the great moments in the film; Jackson's soulful music, Ricci's captivating cry for help. But at the back of mind is this little sting, a prick if you will, that because of a certain somebody the film feels tainted.Damn you Timberlake, i hate you.