There was a point in "Black Snake Moan" where I was wondering if there was any possible way to review this movie. Right about then, the Rev. R.L. (played perfectly by John Cothran Jr.) turned to Lazarus (played by Samuel L. Jackson, and yes, he does get to say the "MF" word several times, as well as play a mean guitar and sing) and said "You've got a half-naked white girl chained up in there!"

By the end of the movie, though, I realized I'd just seen one of the more powerful Christian movies in recent memory. Given that Christina Ricci's character Rae appears topless, having sex. There's a lot of drinking and pretty much everyone swears heavily. Putting "Black Snake Moan" on the "powerful Christian movie" list might take some explaining, and no, I'm not deliberately trying to get thrown out of my church.

Windrider 2007 said it before I did and better:

With the depiction of one of the rawest examples of unconditional love, Black Snake Moan presents a broken life, rocked by the abuse and addiction in need of healing. Writer/Director Craig Brewer (Writer/Director of Hustle and Flow) brings to the subject matter a genuine sincerity on the issues of forgiveness, love, and purpose.

No, this movie is not for everyone. If the idea of explaining the term "vagina" in "The Vagina Monologues" to your 12 year old niece upsets you, perhaps you should never see another movie or TV show. If you're going to this movie only to see Christina Ricci's breasts, you need to grow up. My lawyer would probably like me at this point to remind everyone that chaining someone to a radiator is not approved psychological therapy for emotional trauma.

But if you're an adult with a brain and don't have personal problems with pornography or profanity, you should see this movie. I'm not asking anyone to make their own situation worse. But there must be some who could handle this movie.

So, here's where I break the post. If you want to read all the spoilers for this movie, continue on. If you're reading the RSS feed, WordPress breaks the full feed at the "more" tag, so you'll have to come to the article on my blog to read the rest.

I think you ought to see the movie first. I had no idea what I was getting into when I sat down for this movie, and in some ways that was part of what made the roller-coaster ride so fun.

The movie begins with a "frame": a blues player explains that blues is the result of love where one of the lovers abuses the relationship. Rae and Ronnie (Justin Timberlake in a flat performance where a flat performance was appropriate) having sex. Afterward, he's in his National Guard uniform about to be shipped out for far too long. Rae desperately wants him to stay, but he leaves because of honor and duty. So afraid of what he faces, Ronnie is face in the toilet puking, with Rae comforting him. Before he goes, he tries to get Rae to promise she'll get her cough and chest cold looked after.

Rae can't deal with his leaving. Following a history of childhood sexual abuse and mistreatment at the hands of other lovers, Rae's way of dealing with the memories is to get lost in sex. She goes to the small town store to try to get help from her mother. Her mother ignores her and so within hours of her boyfriend leaving, she's getting "banged" by someone else. Later, she goes to a party. One knows that this movie was filmed before Brittney Spear's latest meltdown, but one can't help but see Speer's in Ricci's performance. Rae gets drugs and more sex from the town dope dealer. Her boyfriend's best friend Gill (Michael Raymond-James in a wonderfully slimy performance) offers to take her home, but on the way tries to rape her. The rape turns to violence. Gill hits Rae so hard he believes he killed her, and so he pushes her out of his truck and drives off.

Lazarus is a farmer and former musician whose wife tells him she's leaving him for his brother because she feels like she's got "one foot in the dirt." Lazarus'
brother tries to make peace with Lazarus at a local bar. The bar is where years ago, Lazarus used to sing the blues. The meeting between the brothers does not go well, with the result that Lazarus says "I love you" to him and almost smashes a broken beer bottle into his brother's face in the process.

Lazarus goes home, throws out the things his wife left behind, and falls into a drunken sleep. Taking out the trash the next day, he finds Rae, dressed only in panties and a short t-shirt, half-dead by the side of the road. What's a black man in the south supposed to do? Call the house? As Lazarus points out later, he's been in trouble with the law simply for "being black and nearby."

Instead, Lazarus begins a bizarre re-enactment of the parable of the Good Samaritan. He carries tiny, bloody, and coughing Rae into the house and lets her sleep on the couch. The next day, he talks the local pharmacist (Angela, played by Law and Order regular S. Epatha Merkerson) into giving him some antibiotic for his "sick niece." Lazarus checks with the local pimp, finding out who Rae is and learning she wasn't into "rough stuff." Lazarus realizes Rae's sexual escapades are both a cry for help and killing her. Arriving home, Lazarus finds Rae burning up with fever and attempting to "escape." He puts her in ice water to "break the fever." That's what people used to do in the '60s, and Lazarus knows no better, but it works.

Rae tries to escape again, collapsing on Lazarus. In one of those "It seemed like a good idea at the time" moments, Lazarus uses a 40 ft. chain to chain Rae about the waist, securing the other end to an old, solid metal radiator. The irony of an African-American putting anyone in chains, let alone a tiny white woman, hangs in the air.

Lazarus is not a machine. He's tempted by Rae, but he knows that she needs someone who won't use her. Instead, Lazarus pulls out his old guitar. His clubbed fingers have not forgotten their duty, and the music that comes from the guitar is astounding. How much is actually Samuel L. Jackson playing and how much a double, I found myself wondering, but there were some shots that simply could not be faked. Jackson has chops, and he's the one listed in the credits.

Lazarus tells Rae he's going to "fix her." She has enough chain to get about the house and even go for short walks. She tries but can't escape.

As appallingly "good" as Lazarus' solution might appear, it wouldn't work in real life, and it doesn't in the movie, either. Jackson goes into town to get supplies, including some better clothing for Rae. While there, he gives Angela the pharmacist a basket for thanks for the medicine, and it's clear the two are becoming sweet on one another. Back at the farm, a neighborhood boy (Neimus K. Williams, whom I expect to see more of) shows up, looking for butter beans from farmer Lazarus. The jig appears up, but the boy starts to leave and the audience relaxes. Suddenly, the boy turns around, and as he decides to enter the house, Rae hears him coming. The boy opens the door to Rae ripping her shirt off. She grabs the boy, leaving no question as to her intentions.

Lazarus comes home, goes in the house, and screaming ensues. He throws the boy out the door. Things can't continue, and he calls the Reverend R.L. to come over. That's when the Reverend comments on the lack of dress, race, and attachment method of what's in Lazarus' house. Lazarus invites the minister to stay. The minister cooks the steak and Lazarus teaches Rae how to cook. The boy, the minister, the girl, and the musician sit down to dinner. When it's over, Lazarus unlocks Rae, saying that he can't force her to change, but letting her know he still wants to help.

Rae's boyfriend returns far too early from the National Guard. He finds his friend Gill and they go to a bar. A patron accuses Ronnie of getting a "Baked Chicken Dinner": a bad conduct discharge. The truth is far worse. The National Guard had been keeping an eye on Ronnie because of his disabling anxiety attacks; Ronnie simply did not have what he needed to be a soldier, and so he was let go. Ronnie asks where Rae is, and Gill tells him that he and everyone else in town had been sleeping with her. Ronnie gives Gill the smack-down the audience has been waiting for.

The next day, Rae and Lazarus go into town. Rae tells Lazarus she wants to shop in the store, but really, she wants to confront her mother. While he's waiting, Lazarus sits with Angela, who begins to sing an old gospel hymn.

Rae's mother's boyfriend had molested Rae, and Rae wanted to at least find out from her mom why she didn't stop him. Rae's mom wants no blame for Rae's behavior, and in saying so proves she's at least partially at fault. Rae has a meltdown, throwing things in the store. Lazarus comes into the store, scoops her up, and carries her to his truck. Along the way, Angela asks "Your cousin?" Doing the right thing has cost Lazarus brutally.

Lazarus, who has been reminded of the music missing from his own life, agrees to get the band back together at the local bar. As part of the healing, the Rev. R.L. calls around, and when Lazarus gets there, the bar is packed. Lazarus sings, wowing the crowd, and Rae dances with no need to get lost in sex.

As everything appears to be getting better, Ronnie's eyes can be seen through the window.

The blues musician of the "frame" comes back, explaining that tragedy is the nature of the blues.

The next day, Rae tries to play Lazarus' guitar and sing. Lazarus tries to teach her, but finally takes the guitar and plays while she sings "This little light of mine." We watch as Ronnie sneaks into the house unnoticed, pistol at the ready. There's the horrid tension as he approaches: this looks to be the setting for a murder-suicide.

Lazarus stands between the gun and Rae, demanding that Ronnie shoot him. He can see that Ronnie is not a killer and does not have what it takes to be a killer. Finally disarming them, Lazarus calls the Rev. R.L. over. The Rev. gets Ronnie and Rae to talk, to realize how much they do help each other. Love does not make it all better instantly, but it's clearly a way for the two of them to heal. He says to Rae "I am no here to judge you, I am here to help you if you choose to change you life.” Rae and Ronnie hold each other, one to save the other from drowning.

Lazarus makes a call to Angela. Angela preps the bride. The young boy, who lost his virginity to Rae, winds up the best man. The couple is married, with Ronnie wrapping a thin gold chain around Rae's waist. The couple drives off, with Angela and Lazarus holding hands.

On the road, trucks box in Ronnie and Rae, and Ronnie breaks down in terror. Pulling off the road, Rae fights off the flashbacks by holding onto her chain and holding Ronnie, whom she comforts and reassures. There are no easy answers in this movie, but you're left with the idea the newlyweds now have the tools they need to survive and grow.

Bar and drinking and blues with "MF" in the lyrics, I find myself thinking that this is somehow the Christian community in action. Chaining people to radiators doesn't work. Jamming Jesus down people's throats or heaping condemnation upon them doesn't help. Everyone's flawed, everyone's broken. But somehow, God uses those broken lives to work together to heal each other. The abiding faith of the minister, the glowing hope of Angela, and the unconditional love of Lazarus for Rae make things new. Not all at once, but the miracle is not in the speed but in the tools God uses to work out His will for His people.

And did I mention the music was incredible? One can almost hear Samuel L. Jackson proclaim there are "MFing guitars in this MFing movie!"

It is said God works in mysterious ways. In this movie, God works in downright bizarre ways. And yes, it's just a movie. It's not God that brings this misfit group together, but the writers and directors.

But I've seen God do similar — and perhaps even more bizarre — things in the real world. I would argue that it's not that things like this don't happen in the real world. Rather, they just don't happen often enough. That's not God's fault, but ours in our need to be self-righteously judgmental and our refusal to be used by Him.