SLING BLADE
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Mirimax) Directed by Billy Bob Thornton Written by Billy Bob Thornton Cast Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Dwight Yoakam, Natalie Canderday, John Ritter, James Hampton, J.T. Walsh MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and language) Running Time 125 minutes Reviewed at The Studio, Raleigh, N.C. (14FEB97)
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Who is Billy Bob Thornton? Well, he's an actor (DEAD MAN, INDECENT PROPOSAL, CHOPPER CHICKS IN ZOMBIETOWN), a writer (ONE FALSE MOVE, A FAMILY THING), and, now, a director. SLING BLADE, the story of a gentle giant who returns to his rural Arkansas hometown years after murdering his mother and his mother's lover, is Thornton's first time behind the camera. His direction is good, very good, but his writing and acting-- both on display here-- are the stuff of Oscar nominations. (And the stuff of head-scratching. I wonder how many people think that Joe Bob *Briggs* is up for Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay?) Thornton's performance as Karl, the slow-moving, slower-speaking small-engine whiz, is mesmerizing. He's Forrest Gump with fewer laughs and darker thoughts. Much darker thoughts. Karl ends up staying with a young boy (Lucas Black) and his single mom (Natalie Canerday) and, after we've met her abusive boyfriend (Dwight Yoakam, excellent), the outcome of the story is no longer in question. SLING BLADE is many things, including a catalog of unspeakable small-town (Southern?) horrors. No, nothing is shown on screen, but they add a grim-- and at times gruesome-- subtext to an equally endearing and, even, hilarious tale. Uh huh.
Grade: A
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Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/
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