Genre:
Drama
Directed
by: Billy Bob Thornton
Cast:
Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh
Running
time: 148 minutes
Karl Childers is an intellectually disabled
man who has been confined to the state mental hospital ever since he killed his
mom and her lover with a sling blade at the age of 12. Now supposedly
rehabilitated, he is set free to go back to a hometown where he has no one
left. With the help of the hospital manager, Karl gets a job at a local garage
fixing small engines and he then befriends a 12 year old boy, Frank, and his
mother Linda Wheatley. But, can Karl truly fit into society after being locked
up all his life?
Billy Bob Thornton, who also wrote the
screenplay and directed the film, is absolutely brilliant as Karl Childers.
That monologue towards the beginning, when he is being interviewed by a
student, is something else. It is important to mention that facial transformation,
with no help from prosthetics; that looks painful. It takes a while to get used
to the voice and the accent, but it is worth the effort.
Honorable mention to country singer Dwight
Yoakam, who made for a very compelling bad guy; he made me hate his character
so bad. Acting-wise, the only fail for me is John Ritter, as Vaughan, the gay
friend/boss of Linda Wheatley. He came off as very cartoonish to me.
As for the movie itself, the ending is
predictable, but the storytelling and the acting from most of the actors are so
superb that it is easily forgiven.
Rating: ««««
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