Review of Sling Blade (1996) by Mitchell S — 12 Jul 2017

What ambition and creative drive does - an actor creates an understated, anti-moralizing masterpiece. Yet, he brings such radiant conflict to the story, working off a great dynamic between Billy Bob's subtle nuances, Dwight's slow boiling aggression and Lucas Black's startlingly energetic anger. A "you had to be there" moment in cinema for sure, but ages very well..

It's hard to narrow down my list of great "mentally challenged" movies, from the likes of Forrest Gump, to Peter Sellers' brilliant performance in Being There. However, Sling Blade excels in pathos solely because of the relentlessly cruel character study of Doyle Hargraves. Doyle is a no good SOB and the movie depicts him as such, but is also presented as a self-loathing, apologetic manipulator who perfectly represents the evil that lies dormant in otherwise honest men. Sling Blade is a work of genius because it makes us, the intellectual elite of moviegoers, feel just as stupid as old Karl Childers, who can't make heads or tails of a morally complex world. That's the joke of life-none of us really can.