Sling Blade is a slice of Southern gothic in the vein of Boo Radley or from the pen of Tennessee Williams. Billy Bob Thornton made his directorial debut with this dark slice of rhubarb pie and it continues to haunt. The roster of special features is familiar, but impressive. Just don’t look for the original short or the director’s cut.
Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton) is a mentally disabled man who has been in a mental hospital (or nervous hospital as he calls it) since he was twelve. He killed his mother and her lover and has been locked up for over twenty years.
Karl now finds himself released into the real world and gets a job doing small engine repair for Bill Cox (Rick Dial). He befriends the lonely youth Frank Wheatley (Lucas Black, who would seem to be the go to guy for Southern Gothic for a time). Karl is even allowed by Frank’s mom Linda (Natalie Canderday) to move into a room in their garage.
Linda’s gay boss Vaughn (John Ritter) is concerned about Karl’s history, but eventually comes to accept the giant man-child. Linda’s dark history comes back to haunt her when her abusive boyfriend Doyle (Dwight Yoakam) reenters their lives and Karl decides that something has to be done about him. Ummmm-huh.
Sling Blade’s southern atmosphere is as thick as tick’s on pappy’s old coonhound. Thornton’s Karl is a creation that led to much parody, but it’s also a memorable character and performance. It would lead to an Oscar nomination for Thornton as best actor and a win for best-adapted screenplay for him as well.
He wrings the most from his cast and Lucas Black would go on to major in Southern Gothic filming in American Gothic, Ghosts of Mississippi, and several other southern films. The surprise may be Dwight Yoakam who was more known for his singing at the time and is menacing as the abusive boyfriend here.
The late John Ritter also plays against type and turns in a great performance. The film always falls back to Thornton though and he’s excellent. He, Black, and Canderday form a family of sorts and Karl will do much to protect them - even if it means picking up a sling blade again. It’s a fine film and worth picking up on Blu-ray.
What may disappoint is that the original short is nowhere to be found on the disc. A director’s cut was released onto DVD and this version only presents the theatrical cut of the film. It’s well worth having even without those additions.
Sling Blade is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). Special features are presented in standard definition and include a commentary by writer/director/actor Billy Bob Thornton. The 67-minute “Mr. Thornton goes to Hollywood” looks at the life and career of Thornton. The 43-minute “Bravo Profile” also looks at similar ground.
Next is a 75-minute roundtable discussion about Sling Blade with Thornton, Yoakam, actor/musician Mickey Jones, and producer David Bushell. The 8 minute “A Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Duvall” has the duo talking about working together. The 7-minute “A Conversation with Robert Duvall” has the actor interviewed solo.
The 23-minute “A Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton and composer Daniel Lanois” covers the score. The 4-minute “Return of Karl” has Thornton aping his performance on the set of Daddy and Them. Next are 8 minutes of “On the Set” footage and a 4 minute deleted scene from the film’s finale.
Karl may have been all the rage to parody at the time, but the film has an undeniable power and fabulous performances. Billy Bob Thornton has gone on to other things, but his directorial debut still has bite and power.
Sling Blade [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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