Drift. Redeem.

Ok, the plot for this movie is completely craptastic. The acting is ass. The direction is sloppy. The music is almost an annoying combination of hip-hop-industrio-cutesy-Japanese-covers all glazed in Hello Kitty saccharin. But, and its a big ol' but, it will be entertaining if you are a car freak or if you haven't seen the neon-ness of Tokyo.

The reason I watched it was Lucas Black. You probably remember him as the kid in Sling Blade. Or maybe you remember him from Cold Mountain or Jarhead. He's got talent. He's kind of appealing with his I'm-every-20-something look, but the what makes him unique is his chicken-fried-and-smothered-in-cream-gravy accent. Not that you would expect that from a small-town Alabama boy :)



Lucas Black

The cars were cool, the "drifting" was technically amazing, Tokyo is an interesting and frenetic city, Lucas is easy to watch for 2 hours, other than that there is no reason to pick this one up.

Tokyo Drift
5.0/10


Even though I love Christina Ricci and Samuel Jackson, I never made it to the theatre to see this one. And then it took me a couple of months to rent it. But I'm glad I did, the Ricci/Jackson team did not disappoint.

By looking at the stills and trailers from this film it's difficult to get any feel for what its about. Most people think its about a white trash girl with a thing for black men. There might be a little of that but on a higher level this is a film about two people struggling hard for redemption. Each finds their own version of it through a plot that is steamier and thicker than an August night in Memphis.

The acting is phenomenal from Ricci/Jackson. You can feel the internal conflict from each one, particularly Ricci. I really liked the constrast between the hard-boiled Ricci and the over-easy Jackson. I'd like to throw Justin Timberlake into the good actor pile but I can't. Not that he was bad, he just faded out against the others. This is the danger in keeping stellar company.

The music made me want the soundtrack; great smoky Jazz and Blues that I became familiar with when my sister lived in Memphis. Just think Etta James and Sarah Vaughn feeding off each other in a vocal competition to see whos life had been the roughest. And in case you didnt know, Black Snake Moan, is just the name of a song. Whatever else you make it mean is completely up to you :)

Fair warning, this one is not for the delicate.



Christina Ricci

Black Snake Moan
9.0/10