Recently, I went to see Black Snake Moan, the movie that asks the question "How many movies with 'snake' in the title can Samuel Jackson make?" And coincidentally, I went with the same friend that came along with me to see Alpha Dog, which apparently means we're all over movies with Justin Timberlake. Shrek III next, I suppose.The strength of this movie is in its two leading actors, Samuel Jackson and Christina Ricci. They play off each other and off the handful of other characters in the film very well. Supporting characters are well-realized too. Samuel Jackson is in usual form: completely different physical appearance, same ol' speaking patterns that everybody knows and loves. Christina Ricci appears as you've never seen her before. (And I don't just mean half-naked for half the movie, but she appears that way too.)
It's just that the story itself didn't really pull me in much. I can't really say much about it and avoid spoiling anything for anyone planning to see the movie -- there just isn't much to it to be talking about. Bonus points, though, for a very "unpretty" message that changing one's character is a journey and not a destination.
Overall, I think it averages out to a middle-of-the-road C for me. But if you value good acting in your movies over good story, it would probably rate quite a bit higher for you.
1 comment:
Yeah, the story is certainly... odd.
Overall, I enjoyed it, if not tremendously. I might give it a C+, but you are pretty much spot on in your analysis.
I wasn't terribly impressed by Justin Timberlake. He wasn't awful, but he certainly couldn't have carried the movie like Jackson and Ricci did.
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