Review of Sling Blade (1996) by Budge B — 10 Mar 2009

Billed as a 'Southern Gothic tale', "Sling Blade" represents something of a tour de force by Billy Bob Thornton, who wrote, directed, and stars in the film. His portrayal of Karl, a man of limited intellectual sophistication, has an intense physical quality - slow moving, slow thinking, his drawl as slow as molasses in January.

We follow Karl on his release from incarceration in a mental hospital; he's served 25 years, his entire adult life, undergoing custodial treatment for some heinous slaying with a switchblade. He's clearly not seen as a danger by the staff of the institution: he seems a man more offended against than offending. He has no home, no family, no friends - his life revolves around the institution, and it is throwing him out.

He returns to his home town clutching a parcel of books, there to befriend a young boy and his mother. He proves adept at repairing engines and begins to impress the locals as a man with a gentle heart and well-reasoned moral sensibilities. And then the mother's abusive boyfriend arrives on the scene.

It's a very sympathetic portrayal by Thornton, at once convincing and engaging without straying into the realm of the sentimental. The film moves at easy pace with a gentle undercurrent of humour as it makes ironic statements about images of masculinity and the small town's assumption that because Karl takes so long to think about even simple things, he must be a particularly deep thinker.

The humour, however, has a dark quality to it - there's none of the sentimentality and bathos of "Forrest Gump". Karl, as he explains, dryly, matter-of-fact how he was incarcerated for a double killing. It transforms the sympathetic, simple, gentle man into a character straight out of "Halloween".

Thornton plays with the audience, frequently creating scenes which seem to have a predictable, clichéd quality, but which take a gentle spin. The conclusion, however, might be seen as inevitable, but there is a degree of moral ambiguity. How do you allocate or anticipate responsibility for an action?

A superb performance by Thornton, Dwight Yoacham gives an equally convincing performance as the abusive boyfriend, and Robert Duval appearrs to deliver a cameo performance (setting echoes for Karl of the Boo Radley character Duval played in "To Kill a Mockingbird").

There is a superb assembly of extras here - interviews with Thornton, an exploration of his life and work, a commentary, an extra 20-odd minutes of film, and contributions by other members of the cast. A excellent anamorphic, widescreen transfer, with good sound and lighting and picture quality which belie its relatively low-budget genesis. A stunningly good movie - moving, engaging, enraging, enthralling.