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Black Snake Moan Play Trailer

Black Snake Moan (2007)

tomatometer

66

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 157
Fresh: 104 | Rotten: 53

Uninhibited performances, skillful direction, and a killer blues soundtrack elevate Black Snake Moan beyond its outlandish premise.

49

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 43
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 22

Uninhibited performances, skillful direction, and a killer blues soundtrack elevate Black Snake Moan beyond its outlandish premise.

audience

70

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 393,883

My Rating

Movie Info

When a weathered, God-fearing ex-blues musician finds the town nymphomaniac severely beaten and left for dead on the side of the road, he vows to cure her of her wicked ways in Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer's raw and unflinching follow-up. Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) is a hard-living ex-blues guitarist for whom the troubled days are beginning to outnumber the good. Rae (Christina Ricci) is a 22-year-old sex addict whose wild ways are finally about to catch up with her. When Lazarus

R,

Drama

Jun 26, 2007

$9.3M

Paramount Vantage - Official Site External Icon

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Black Snake Moan Trailer & Photos

Critic Reviews for Black Snake Moan

All Critics (157) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (110) | Rotten (55) | DVD (27)

Delightfully outrageous, Black Snake Moan is an explosive mixture of sex, race and down-South swamp water.

March 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out New York
Mark Holcomb
Time Out New York
Top Critic IconTop Critic

For Black Snake Moan to work any sort of magic, it must be viewed as a blues riff on damaged souls and their desperate need for salvation.

March 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie strolls right past absurdity into offensiveness, by trying to pass this pulp nonsense off as noble art.

March 2, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Daily News | Comment (1)
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This is the kind of movie that's best enjoyed as a stylized fantasy, much like Brewer's most obvious model, Elia Kazan's Southern-fried Tennessee Williams adaptation Baby Doll.

March 2, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Post
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The characters never connect, and the movie never takes off. Rae may be the one sporting a padlock around her waist. But it's the movie that's shackled.

March 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comments (2)
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Humid and overwrought, with Ricci working at fever pitch and Jackson bringing fire, brimstone and some passable blues licks to the equation, Black Snake Moan is no polite little indie thing, and certainly no formulaic studio exercise.

March 2, 2007
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

God, sex and the blues are mashed together and deep fried southern style in Craig Brewer's unique Black Snake Moan.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews
Matthew Pejkovic
Matt's Movie Reviews

Snaps and crackles with comic verve

August 27, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

With excellent performances, plays on morality and sexual behavior, Brewer composes another surefire classic.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Craig Brewer, the promising director who hit it with Hustle and Flow, seems to harbor a need to exorcise his white burden through films centered on black music.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | Comment (1)
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix

Brewer knows his music, and how to make it the center of a story; if he only did a better job filling in the rest of the blanks, this might've worked.

November 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Hollywood.com
Brian Marder
Hollywood.com

Moan? You're more likely to be groaning - or possibly hooting with laughter at the implausibility of this messy, misogynistic melodrama.

June 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment (1)
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

I did expect there to be a stronger emotional connection between Ricci and Jackson, but that said, the two actors were impressive to watch.

February 1, 2008 Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Pulpy Southern immorality tale is for adults only.

October 31, 2007 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media

Chaining people to your radiator is a Wrong Thing To Do. This is not the opinion of Black Snake Moan.

September 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Its sleazy, scuzzy nature comes not from a forward desire to push the standards of taste but a been-there sense of the ways of the world.

September 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Projection Booth
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

Deception, freedom and redemption all weave themselves into a moody tale that holds our attention for most of the time, compounded by Ricci's striking performance and waif-like appearance

July 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

A wonderful original film worthy of a cult following...

July 13, 2007
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

...a strange, daring, bodacious concoction from a major studio. (HD DVD Edition)

June 29, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

Basically, the movie is an old-fashioned morality play, for all its lurid details.

June 29, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

(An) overripe gumbo of redneck Freud and blues therapy, but the psychodrama is not half as daring as it pretends to be.

June 28, 2007 Full Review Source: MSN.com
Sean Axmaker
MSN.com
View all critic reviews (157)

Audience Reviews for Black Snake Moan

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Black Snake Moan is one of those films that had the potential of being a great film, but I felt it fell quite short. For me, this was a film that was quite hard to get into, and it simply didn't deliver. The performances were quite good, but overall this was a decent affair with a plot that was interesting, but was quite eccentric. Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson have good chemistry here, and it's the film's highpoint. However the film's low point is the pacing of the film, I felt that though it had it an interesting plot, the picture moved too slowly. Films that tell a captivating plot and are well paced are good to watch. However Black Snake Moan just didn't have the fire to keep you involved from start to finish. The performances were good and the plot was well thought out, but at the same time, this was a tiresome affair. I felt that the film could have been much better and that director Craig Brewer could have rewritten the script at least a few times to really give the film its just due. This could have been a stellar picture, but it was plagued by too many lows and it just ended up being a decent flick at best. Black Snake Moan is not a film that warrants multiple viewings, and despite the cast and interesting concept, I was disappointed with the final result. Samuel L. Jackson saved the film from being a total bore fest and he really commanded the screen in his performance. If only the ideas could have been thought out slightly better, then I think this would have for a truly compelling feature that would have surely been a great and memorable piece of cinema. Alas the result is an underwhelming movie that leaves a lot to be desired in terms of substance to its plot.
February 1, 2013
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

Really weird. I'm still not sure if I liked or not, but it was interesting enough. Christina Ricci doesn't really do it for me. But Samuel is his usual cranky self but he sure can sing! He's pretty good if you ask me. Justin Timberlake should stick to singing instead of acting, he's not convincing enough when you hear that whiny little voice in the back of you're head every time his face shows (I won't admit that I secretly liked his debut-solo album).
December 5, 2012
Saxia
Saskia D.

Super Reviewer

Black Snake Moan Quotes

View All
    1. Lazarus Woods: Get yo' ass back in my house!
    – Submitted by Directors C (11 months ago)
    1. Rae: You can take this off *holds the chain in both hands*
    2. Lazarus Woods: Nawww...you ain't right kid.
    – Submitted by Directors C (11 months ago)
    1. Rae: [singing] You are my sunshine, my only sunshine/You make me happy, the skies are blue/You never know, dear, how much I love you/Please don't take my sunshine away.
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (16 months ago)
    1. Lazarus Woods: [talking to Rae as he pulls her in a chain outside his house] I ain't gonna be moved on this. Right or wrong. Like Jesus said 'I'mma suffa you, I'MMA SUFFA YOU. Now, get your ass back in my house.
    2. Rae: Or what? Or what? [spits in Lazarus' face]
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (16 months ago)
    1. Auto Worker: It's already noon, Rae. Do you think those shorts should still be on.
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (17 months ago)
    1. Gill: [first lines] Still need a lift?
    2. Ronnie: [first lines] Yeah! Transmission's shot?
    3. Gill: [first lines] Gonna have a smoke?
    4. Ronnie: [first lines] SHIT!
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (17 months ago)

Discussion Forum

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