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Sling Blade
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Sling Blade (1996) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 35 | slideshow) Videos (see all 4)
Sling Blade (1996) -- Karl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town.
Sling Blade (1996) -- Clip: Good to me, pre
Sling Blade (1996) -- Clip: Lunch with Vaughn, pre
Sling Blade (1996) -- Clip: Good thoughts, pre

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   38,506 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 25% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Billy Bob Thornton
Writers (WGA):
Billy Bob Thornton (play)
Billy Bob Thornton (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Sling Blade on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
27 November 1996 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
Tagline:
Sometimes a hero comes from the most unlikely place. more
Plot:
Karl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 9 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(36 articles)
Blu-ray Dates
 (From SmellsLikeScreenSpirit. 6 July 2009, 10:00 AM, PDT)

Spacey to play 'Casino Jack'
 (From Monsters and Critics. 13 May 2009, 3:47 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Filmmaking at it's Best more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for strong language, including descriptions of violent and sexual behavior.
Runtime:
135 min | 148 min (Director's cut)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
Canada:14A (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | USA:Not Rated (director's cut) | South Korea:15 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (re-rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R
Filming Locations:
Benton, Arkansas, USA more
Company:
Miramax Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Cameo by Col. Bruce Hampton Ret. of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Code Talkers during Doyal's band scene. Col. Bruce is the Tambourine player and can be seen blowing his trademark "Smokeless Smoke Ring" in a close up shot. more
Goofs:
Boom mic visible: Shadow visible in front of a tree when Jerry and Karl are walking. more
Quotes:
Doyle: I don't mean to be so... Assholish I guess is a good word for it. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001) more
Soundtrack:
The One I Love more

FAQ

Is this movie awesome?
more
52 out of 60 people found the following comment useful:-
Filmmaking at it's Best, 20 April 2003

As someone who loves good filmmaking, I rate this film among the best I've ever seen in all areas of the craft. Some of the criticisms of this film are hard to fathom.

The screenplay has the tight conciseness of a well-honed play (which this essentially was derived from) and doesn't fail to prick at the emotions and the intellect of the viewer. The photography, the casting and the editing all click together quite admirably.

However, I always marvel at the negative, emotionalized responses to otherwise superb films such as this by those who seem to miss the entire point of a movie like "Sling Blade".

I did not see a political message about abortion, or a justification of murder or even a backhanded putdown of the rural people of Arkansas. (Many of the characters were locals, by the way.) Some viewers are setting themselves up to be against this film since they are wearing their own feelings on their sleeves and fail to see the subtle layers of the story. They are seeing only the reflection of themselves on the surface of the water, rather than the complex world below.

Theater and film are rooted in images and characterizations designed to help us explore the human condition. It was once said that Tolstoy's voluminous novel "War and Peace" could be summed up in a single sentence thereby negating the need to write the book. Art is not a fast explanation, but a captivating and thought-provoking trip that hopefully forces us to think about our own motivations. Taking a one-dimensional view of this film might lead one to believe that Karl Childer's central message is that we should all eat biscuits smeared with mustard.

"Sling Blade" excels at the job of making us examine the terrible choices life gives us by providing a set of characters who interact in a moving, curious and revealing way. It is not reality nor is it political, but a method by which we can look at our own individual realities.

Others who seemed disenchanted with this film out-of-hand are those who found it "slow". Helloooo! This film is SUPPOSED to be slow and agonizingly so. It is carefully walking you to the conclusion, step-by-step, so you can squirm uncomfortably at the overall foreshadowing. It ain't an explosion-a-minute John Woo filmmaking and it certainly isn't light comedy, though it induces a surprising number of smiles.

This is a film that makes us look at true evil in the form of J.T. Walsh, Dwight Yoakum and Robert Duval's characters and compare it to the pure goodness of the damaged creature portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton, whose own brutalization leads him to seek justice in his own imperfect way.

To help those out who didn't "get" this film, I might recommend that you consider Thornton's character to be an amalgamation of Herman Melville's innocently homicidal protagonist in "Billy Budd" and Mary Shelley's sad monster Frankenstein. These characters, like Thornton's Karl Childers, were dramatic vehicles for the purpose of making us think. They did bad things but we were forced to view them compassionately because they reflected our own conflicting traits.

Don't read things into a film that aren't there, but don't ignore the interesting elements that are. Get those wheels upstairs turning and start enjoying intelligent filmmaking instead of merely seeking an excitement fix!

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
I didn't understand the joke Karl's boss told at work while eating DRose23
Film score matthijs_smits
southern stereotypes.... vwhombre
Doyle's Best Lines birdncookie
Pop (cola) mikem-61
Karl killed Doyle for Frank..... goldenchildever
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