This is Craig Brewer's second film and I'm happy to report there's no sophomore slump here. After blowing us away with Hustle & Flow, Brewer brings us another astonishing and original film with knock-out performances by Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson. The action takes place in rural Tennessee where the town slut gets beaten up and thrown from a car in front of a bitter, tempermental, religious, blues-playing, against-his-will divorceé. He takes her in and figures he's the only one who can cure her of her evil ways. To protect her from herself (in his mind) he chains her to the radiator. Let the curing begin.
This is raw, powerful stuff. Ricci spends 80% of the movie in her underwear writhing, screaming or fucking. Jackson knows when to be big and when to be small--when to stay calm and when to cut loose. Their chemistry is intoxicating and the vivid cinematography, tight direction and gorgeous editing make this film a surprising pleasure to watch, especially given the subject matter.
Other reviewers will undoubtedly talk about the use of specific music in the film. Not being a fan of the blues or knowing much about the nuances, I can still report I was still riveted by every note. I give high credit to Brewer -- he's taken a film idea that is as foreign to me as, well, sluts and blues singers in backwoods Tennessee finding redemption, and turned it into a character drama of the highest caliber.
