Sling Blade (1996)

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.

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