| Sling Blade | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Billy Bob Thornton |
| Produced by | Larry Meistrich David L. Bushell Brandon Rosser |
| Written by | Billy Bob Thornton |
| Starring | Billy Bob Thornton Dwight Yoakam J. T. Walsh John Ritter Lucas Black and Robert Duvall |
| Music by | Daniel Lanois |
| Cinematography | Barry Markowitz |
| Editing by | Hughes Winborne |
| Studio | Shooting Gallery |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) | November 27, 1996 |
| Running time | 135 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,000,000 |
| Box office | $24,475,416 |
Sling Blade is a 1996 American drama film set in rural Arkansas, written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also stars in the lead role. It tells the story of a mentally impaired man named Karl Childers who is released from a psychiatric hospital, where he has lived since killing his mother and her lover when he was 12 years old, and the friendship he develops with a young boy. In addition to Thornton, it stars Dwight Yoakam, J. T. Walsh, John Ritter, Lucas Black, Natalie Canerday, James Hampton, and Robert Duvall.
The movie was adapted by Thornton from his short film and previous screenplay, Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade. Sling Blade proved to be a sleeper hit, launching Thornton into stardom. It won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, and Thornton was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The music for the soundtrack was provided by French Canadian artist/producer Daniel Lanois.
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Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton) is a mentally disabled Arkansas man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for having killed his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly "institutionalized," Karl is deemed fit to be released into the outside world. Prior to his release, he is interviewed by a local college newspaper reporter, to whom he recounts the brutal murder of his mother and her boyfriend with a Kaiser blade - during which scene he notes to the reporter that, "Some folks call it a sling blade. I call it a kaiser blade," the line from which the film derives its name. Karl continues, saying that he killed the man because he thought he was raping his mother. When he discovered that his mother was a willing participant in the affair, he killed her too.
Having developed a knack for small-engine repair during his childhood and his institutionalization, Karl lands a job at a small-engine repair shop in the small town where he was born and raised. Around this time, he befriends 12-year-old Frank Wheatley (Lucas Black). Karl shares with Frank some of the details of his past, including the killings. Frank reveals that his father was killed - hit by a train - leaving him and his mother on their own - he later admits that he lied, and that his father committed suicide.
Frank introduces Karl to his mother, Linda (Natalie Canerday), as well as her gay friend, Vaughan Cunningham (John Ritter), the manager of the dollar store where she is employed. Despite Vaughan's concerns about Karl's history in the mental hospital, Linda allows him to move into her garage, which angers Linda's abusive boyfriend, Doyle Hargraves (Dwight Yoakam). Eventually, Karl bonds with both Linda and Vaughan. In an early scene, Vaughan tells Karl that a gay man and a mentally challenged man face similar obstacles of intolerance and ridicule in small-town America.
Karl quickly becomes a father figure to Frank, who misses his father and despises Doyle. For Karl, Frank becomes much like a younger brother. Karl eventually reveals that he is haunted by the task given him by his parents when he was a child of six or eight years: To dispose of his premature, unwanted, newborn brother. In a subsequent scene, he visits his father (Robert Duvall), who has become a mentally unbalanced hermit in the dilapidated home Karl grew up in. Karl tells him that killing the baby was wrong and further reveals to his father that he used to think about killing him, but eventually decided he wasn't worth the effort.
Doyle soon becomes increasingly abusive toward Karl and Frank, leading to a drunken outburst and physical confrontation with Linda and Frank. Although Linda initially kicks Doyle out of the house, she quickly reconciles with him. Sensing the recapitulation, and knowing that he has the upper hand again, Doyle confronts Karl and Frank once more, announcing his plan to move into the house permanently, and that big changes are afoot as a result, including Karl's removal from the house. Karl begins to realize that he is the only one who can bring about a positive change and spare Frank and his mother a grim fate. Karl makes Frank promise to spend the night at Vaughan's, and asks a favor of Vaughan to pick up Linda from work and have her stay over, as well.
Later that evening, Karl returns to Linda's house. He seems to have second thoughts at first, and walks away from the house for a time, but then retraces his steps, and enters the house. After asking Doyle how to reach the police by phone, he promptly kills him with a blow from the lawnmower blade he'd sharpened for the task earlier that day. He then turns himself in, calling the police and requesting a hearse be sent, per Doyle's direction. He calmly dines on mustard and biscuits while waiting to be returned to the state hospital.
Once at the state hospital, he seems to have reached a turning point and peace of mind, sternly rebuffing a sexual predator (J. T. Walsh) at the hospital who used to use him as a captive audience for tales of his horrible deeds.
The film was very well received by critics and earned $24,444,121 domestically on a $1 million budget. The film received a 96% "Certified Fresh" rating by Rotten Tomatoes, with 47 critics giving generally favorable reviews and only two negative reviews; the site's consensus states "You will see what's coming, but the masterful performances, especially Thornton's, will leave you riveted."[1]
The Washington Post called it a "masterpiece of Southern storytelling." Kevin Thomas wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the film is "a mesmerizing parable of good and evil and a splendid example of Southern storytelling at its most poetic and imaginative." New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised the performances but said that "it drifts gradually toward climactic events that seem convenient and contrived."
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