Sling Blade Reviews

This movie is absolutely riveting and wonderful. I didn't expect Billy Bob's performance to be THIS good, and that doesn't even start to cover it. From the first sequence I was completely hooked, even if the movie is developing quite slowly.

All the characters have this damaged quality to them and they just make you think it's so real, just like real life. The connection between the characters, sometimes the disconnect even, makes for great performances throughout the whole movie. The cinematography is superb also, and the directing style is flawless.

One of the best films and performances in modern cinematography. At timers it even reminded me of Daniel Day Lewis' performance in My Left Foot, but the characters are just different. They are rugged and raw and desperate, which only adds to this great movie's qualities. Just go and watch it already!

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Apparently, before making this movie, Billy Bob Thornton was a struggling actor and he basically launched his career by starring in his own movie. It is a rather unusual move but it has been done by some other actors such as Gary Sinise, Sam Neill and even Vin Diesel. I must say I was really amazed by Thornton’s directing debut. Indeed, at first, you think it might be about a deranged killer who is let loose in the real world and goes back killing some more people but it was much more than that. Indeed, it was in fact one of the most fascinating character studies I have ever seen. Not only Thornton’s directing was pretty good, his acting was quite amazing as well. Basically, he completely disappeared behind the character and changed his face, his walk, his body language, his speech and there was not a single moment when he stepped out of character. There were a couple of moments when I thought they made Karl sound a little too smart just to fit the needs of the script but it was something really minor. I was also impressed by a very young Lucas Black. Black would eventually end up playing the very same character in every single movie (‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’, ‘Friday Night Lights’, ‘Jarhead’) but, as a child, he was quite amazing. On the downside, the whole thing was filled with some awfully decent people, except for one terrible douche bag which happened to be there only to make sure that they will be a dramatic climax at the end. Furthermore, there was also this one scene which really blew me away. At first, it seemed rather odd that Frank’s mother would let Karl so suddenly live with them when she didn’t know him at all. But then, when he finally told her what happened in his past, I thought she would really freak out and throw him out of the house but, no, she told him to sit down and fixed him some biscuits! I was really floored by this scene which was so refreshing because she reacted completely against expectation. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a very impressive drama and, if you, like me, didn’t care much for ‘Forrest Gump’ and would rather watch something grim, bleak and realistic, you should definitely check this one out.

- "Ever think of killing yourself on purpose like my daddy done?"
- "I studied about it. The Bible says you ought not to. It says if you do that, you go off to Hades. Some folks call it Hell, I call it Hades."

This is without a doubt one of the most original and yet powerful and touching movies I have ever seen. This is true drama with Billy Bob showing his unique acting skills, this is not one to be missed.

Billy Bob Thornton is Karl Childers, a mentally handicapped man who is released from a psychiatric hospital after killing his mother and her lover. At the start of the film Karl is interviewed for the newspaper and we can discover the circumstances of the deaths. Karl decides to go back and settle in his hometown, where he soon meets a young boy who he becomes friends with. It's not long before he meets the boy's mother and her abusive boyfriend, who is cruel to both the boy and the mother. It's written and directed beautifully by Billy Bob, making this moving and touching from the beginning. A truly original story.

Billy Bob Thornton was again amazing, there's no stop to him surprising me with his acting and versatility. It's hard to imagine Karl Childers is actually Bad Santa, and although I love him in comedies he really is just as brilliant in these types of films. Dwight Yoakam also gives a great performance and Lucas Black was brilliant for his part. The emotion and story made this believable and the performances from the actors was terrific. Definitely worth seeing if you haven't already, this is Billy Bob Thornton at his best.

It's hard to believe that Karl is Billy Bob Thorton, but this is far and away his best performance ever. The drama feels real and Thorton makes us believe it.