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01/01/00
Sling Blade (1996)
96
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:47
Fresh:45
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8.3/10
Consensus: You will see what's coming, but the masterful performances, especially Thornton's, will leave you riveted.
Runtime: 2 hrs 37 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: After catching his mother and her boyfriend "in flagrante delicto" and dispatching both of them with a farm implement known as a sling blade, a simpleminded 11-year-old boy is sent to a mental... [More]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Dwight Yoakam, John Ritter
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Reviews for Sling Blade
It will make you laugh and cry. And it will make you think long and hard about the last time you saw a movie this good.
01/01/00
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06/24/06
Top CriticAmerican films rarely depict the lower-class milieu as respectfully as this unsentimental drama.
01/01/00
Ambivalence reigns in Sling Blade. For every funny moment there is a shocking revelation. For every cute bit of dialogue interplay there is a disturbing recollection.
01/01/00
Sling Blade gives you plenty to think about, and neither the story nor the quality of the film can easily be forgotten.
01/01/00
There is a lot of rich atmosphere here, and Thornton's own central performance is riveting.
01/01/00
A real gem.
01/01/00
Excellent character study of a mentally challenged person.
07/23/09
Sling Blade takes you down paths full of primitive, almost biblical implications, but it also finds comic relief in moments of palpable tension.
01/01/00
All the actors in Sling Blade do magnificent work, but it's Thornton who stays with you for days.
01/01/00
A deep and thoughtful masterpiece - now on director's cut dvd!
06/16/05
These days Thornton is seen primarily as an actor, but with “Sling Blade” he proved a true auteur.
07/15/05
This riveting character-driven drama is a cautionary tale about the ways in which violence desecrates all life.
08/31/02
Billy Bob Thornton has created a great American original, a fascinating character who is both victim and savior.
01/01/00
A fine motion picture.
01/01/00
a Southern gothic tale of love and redemption that feels at every turn strikingly original
02/27/01
Thornton offers a subtle, thoughtful script, generally sensitive direction, and an understated performance, uh-huh.
08/01/09
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05/14/03
Sling Blade does homage to Psycho without slavishly imitating the memorable parts.
01/01/00
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