Black Snake Moan

From its down-and-dirty title to a lurid ad campaign that screams "Everything's hotter down south!" over images of a sweaty Samuel L. Jackson looming over a half-naked — and chained — Christina Ricci, everything about Craig Brewer's follow-up to HUSTLE & FLOW is designed to make you think you're in for the sleaziest, Southern-fried potboiler since SHANTY TRAMP. But while the film kicks off with a steamy shot of Ricci strutting down a country road in cowboy boots and hot pants short enough to shame Daisy Duke herself, Brewer’s torrid tale turns out to be a surprisingly sweet — if not entirely innocent — fable about emotional redemption and self-worth.

Just h...