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Sling Blade

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This article is about the 1996 film. For the tool used to cut vegetation, see kaiser blade.
Sling Blade
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBilly Bob Thornton
Written byBilly Bob Thornton
Produced byLarry Meistrich
David L. Bushell
Brandon Rosser
StarringBilly Bob Thornton
Dwight Yoakam
J.T. Walsh
John Ritter
Lucas Black
Natalie Canerday
CinematographyBarry Markowitz
Edited byHughes Winborne
Music byDaniel Lanois
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
November 27, 1996
Running time
Theatrical cut
135 min.
Director's Cut
148 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million
Box office$24.4 million

Sling Blade is an award-winning Template:Fy drama film set in rural Arkansas, written, directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton.

It tells the fictional story of a simple 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. He befriends a young boy, begins a friendship with the boy's mother and eventually confronts the mother's abusive boyfriend, as well as his own dark past. In addition to Thornton, it starred 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 titled Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade. The film proved itself to be a sleeper hit, launching Thornton into stardom. It won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, 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.

Taglines:
Sometimes a hero comes from the most unlikely place.
A simple man. A difficult choice.

Plot

Karl Childers(Billy Bob Thornton) is a mentally challenged man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of twelve, having killed his mother and her lover.

Although thoroughly "institutionalized", Karl is deemed fit to be released into a world "too big" for him. Prior to his release, he is interviewed by a local school newspaper reporter to whom he recalls in detail the brutal killing of his mother and her lover with a kaiser blade (noting "some folks call it a sling blade"). Karl claims to have killed the boy for supposedly raping his mother. When he found out his mother was a willing participant, he killed her too.

Having a knack for small engine repair, Karl eventually gets a job at a local lawnmower repair shop. Not long after, he befriends Frank (Lucas Black). Karl shares with Frank, some of the details of his past, including the killings. Frank reveals that his father was killed, 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 (John Ritter). Despite Vaughan's concerns, Linda allows Karl to move into her garage. This does not sit well with Linda's abusive boyfriend Doyle (Dwight Yoakam).

Karl quickly becomes a father figure for Frank, who misses his father dearly and despises Doyle. Plus, he likes the way Karl talks. For Karl, Frank becomes the little brother he never had. Karl eventually reveals that he is haunted by the task given to him by his parents when he was a small child: to dispose of his deformed, unwanted, newborn brother. In a pivotal scene, he visits his father (Robert Duvall) and tells him that killing the baby was wrong. Karl says he used to think about killing him, but eventually decided he wasn't worth the effort.

Besides Frank, Karl also bonds with both Linda and Vaughan. In one scene, Vaughan discusses how a gay man and a mentally challenged man face similar problems of intolerance and ridicule in small town America.

Doyle becomes increasingly abusive with Karl and Frank, leading to a drunken outburst and physical confrontation with Frank. Though Linda initially kicks Doyle out of the house, she later reconciles with him. After Doyle confronts Karl and Frank again, Karl begins to realize that he is the only one who can bring about a change and spare Frank and his mother a grim fate. In premeditated fashion, Karl tells Frank to spend that night at Vaughan's, and asks Vaughan to pick up Linda. Later that evening, Karl returns to Linda's house. After asking Doyle how to reach the police, he promptly kills him with a lawnmower blade, turns himself in, and is placed back in the state mental hospital.

Cast

Reception

The film was very well received by critics and, based on the $1,000,000 budget, made $24,458,284 worldwide. The film received a 95% rating by Rotten Tomatoes, with 41 critics giving generally favorable reviews and 2 negative reviews.[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."

In pop culture

  • The film has been parodied or referenced in episodes of Mad TV, South Park, Saturday Night Live, King of the Hill, Family Guy, Xiaolin Showdown, 30 Rock as well as the films Wag the Dog and Dr. Dolittle.
  • In an interview with co-star Jon Heder for their film, School for Scoundrels, Thornton performed an impromptu impersonation of Karl with Heder, who performed as his Napoleon Dynamite character.
  • The nationally syndicated radio show The Big Show often presents a segment known as "Karl Childers' Story Time" in which a cast member reads a classic children's story in character as Childers.
  • In the game, Zork Grand Inquisitor, if you knock on one of the doors in Port Foozle, a character sounds like "Karl Childers". If you knock more than twice, he will mention "mustard on biscuits."
  • In an outtake from the film The Ice Harvest, Thornton performed his scripted dialogue as Childers, causing costar John Cusack and members of the crew to break into laughter.

Awards and nominations

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