Sling Blade
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| Sling Blade | |
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 Sling Blade film poster |
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| Directed by | Billy Bob Thornton |
| Produced by | David L. Bushell Brandon Rosser |
| Written by | Billy Bob Thornton |
| Starring | Billy Bob Thornton |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) | November 27, 1996 (USA) |
| Running time | 135 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Sling Blade is a 1996 film drama set in rural Arkansas. It tells the fictional story of a simple man named Karl Childers who is released from a psychiatric hospital where he has lived since murdering his mother and her lover at age 12. He befriends a young boy, begins a friendship with the boy's mother and must confront the mother's abusive boyfriend, as well as his own dark past. It stars and was written and directed by actor/writer Billy Bob Thornton, and also stars singer Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter, Lucas Black, Natalie Canerday, Bruce Hampton, James Hampton, Vic Chesnutt, Stacia Thomason 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 seemed to come out of nowhere, and was a sleeper hit, launching Thornton into mega-stardom. It won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Billy Bob Thornton).
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[edit] Plot
Thornton portrays the mentally handicapped Karl, though thoroughly 'institutionalized' is deemed fit to be released into a world "too big" for him. It is revealed early on, he had killed his mother and a schoolmate, who he caught having sex together. Since Karl has a knack for small engine repair, the warden gets him a small job at a repair shop, but it is the friendship with young Frank Wheatley that will have the most profound impact on his life.
For Frank (whose father committed suicide because he felt he couldn't properly support his family), Karl becomes a father figure. He likes the way Karl talks; Karl doesn't make him "nervous". For Karl, Frank becomes his friend, the little brother he never had and moves into the Wheatley's garage.
More than the murder he committed, Karl is haunted by the task given to him by his parents when he was a child: to dispose of his newborn, unwanted brother. He develops the urge to redeem himself. In a pivotal scene, he visits his father (Robert Duvall), admits he thought about killing him, but eventually doesn't consider him worth the effort. The scene reveals that a person considered normal can be a worse cripple than a mentally handicapped individual.
Witnessing Frank's mother's boyfriend Doyle's abusive and aggressive behavior, especially his contempt for Frank, Karl slowly realizes that he is the only one who can bring about a change and spare Frank and his mother a grim fate. Near the end of the movie, he premeditatedly kills Doyle with a lawnmower blade and then turns himself in to police.
While Karl isn't the big thinker, Frank's mother's gay friend Vaughan (John Ritter) suspects him to be ("I was thinking I'm gonna want take some of these potatoes home with me."), his exposure to real life makes him return to the psychiatric hospital with a stronger sense of moral ethics and self-awareness than ever before. Finally, he shuts down his fellow inmate, a sexual serial killer (J.T. Walsh) who brags about his crimes: "Fact of business, don't you say another word to me. I ain't listening to you no more."
[edit] Parodies
- Mad TV aired a comedy sketch entitled Sling Blade 2: Judgment Day (alternately, The Reckoning, as sources vary on the subtitle) during their third season, a Terminator 2 parody. A second sketch entitled Blades (aka Blade/Sling Blade) aired during their fifth season, which featured Karl teamed up with vampire-hunter/dhampir Blade to hunt down vampires. The most memorable part was Karl's line, "I bit me a vampire once... tasted like corn."
- In the South Park episode Towelie, Cartman says a few lines from the movie ("You shouldn't a done that, he's just a boy," and "poor little feller") with an accent similar to that in the movie, when referring to Stan's mom's tampon he found in the trash.
- In a recent interview with co-star Jon Heder for their film, School for Scoundrels, Thornton performed an impromptu impersonation of Karl chatting about french fries and llamas with Heder, who performed as his Napoleon Dynamite character.
- In the Family Guy episode The Fat Guy Strangler, the Griffins are at a mental hospital to see Lois's long lost and forgotten brother Patrick. Lois mentions that he seems normal and should come home with them, Stewie reacts to that by saying, "Oh, that's a great idea, maybe he can bring his sling blade and order up some french fried potaters, hmmm", the last four words being said with a gravelly deep Southern voice.
- In Barry Levinson's politcal satire, Wag the Dog, Woody Harrelson provides an all-out parody of Karl Childers.
[edit] Reference
Thornton's character refers to using a "kaiser blade," which he says some folks call a "sling blade."
A "kaiser" or "ditch bank" blade features a hardwood pole with a wide, heavy steel blade with a half-hook point attached firmly to the end. It is usually kept sharp on both sides and is used for cutting earth and roots as well as heavier vegetation. It would make a very lethal weapon.
"Sling blade" can also mean a pole with a thin, replaceable cutting blade attached horizontally to the end, used to cut light grasses. However, it would not be a terribly effective weapon. A sugar cane blade is also referred to sometimes as a "sling blade".
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Academy Awards
- Won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Thornton)
- Nominated for Best Actor (Thornton)
- Edgar Awards
- Won for Best Motion Picture Screenplay (Thornton)
- Independent Spirit Awards
- Won for Best First Feature
- National Board of Review Awards
- Won for Special Achievement in Filmmaking (Thornton)
- Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast
- Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Thornton)
- Writers Guild of America Awards
- Won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Thornton)
[edit] Trivia
- On the promotion tour for the movie, Dwight Yoakam was asked on Late Night with Conan O'Brien how he knew that he had done a good acting job. Yoakam responded that after the premiere, his mother "looked me dead in the eye[s] and said 'I'm glad he killed you!'."
- The film also features cameo appearances by musicians Bruce Hampton, Vic Chesnutt, and Ian Moore as well as a brief appearance by independent writer and director Jim Jarmusch as the frostee cream guy. Jarmusch had previously cast Thornton in his 1995 film Dead Man.
