Black Snake Moan (2006)

Yes, I agree the title would be an awesome name for some piping hot porno. Can we please move past that? I gotta hand it to Craig Brewer: his tale of salvation through the blues sports a soundtrack that would make Tarrantino green with envy. It also has an outstanding performance by Samuel L. Jackson, and a style that's gritty, sad, and uplifting like the blues itself. The issues the film suffer stem largely from the plot's overall concept, and the film's ending. The story feels like it would fit better in a '70s exploitation flick than in a hard examination of self-abuse. If you let yourself stand back from it, the whole thing can feel more than a bit silly, and sadly it has a couple of moments throughout that let you do just that. As to the closing minutes of the film, I'll only say they mistakenly muddy the message in their struggle to tie together all of its threads. In all, if your mind can let go of the ridiculousness of the central struggle there's a pretty good movie here about atonement and letting go of your past, of loves had and lost, and the reasons we sing the blues.

8 out of 10.