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Sling Blade (1996)
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... 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 hospital where he spends the next 25 years. Upon his release, the emotionally and mentally stunted man-child returns to his Arkansas hometown and takes a job in a local garage, only to have the past inexorably repeat itself. An indie-film triumph, adapted by star-writer-director Thornton from his 1993 short, "Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade." Academy Award Nominations: 2, including Best Actor--Billy Bob Thornton. Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay. [More]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Dwight Yoakam, John Ritter
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Dwight Yoakam, John Ritter, Natalie Canerday, Robert Duvall, Jim Jarmusch
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Screenwriter: Billy Bob Thornton
Composer: Daniel Lanois
Producer: David L. Bushell, Brandon Rosser
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.
By its midpoint, however, Thornton has begun forcing both the film's poetry and the preternatural goodness of its simple-minded protagonist, and Sling Blade's sweet charms begin to curdle.
An abundance of long, flat medium shots that rob the film of intimacy and give it a sleepy pace.
American films rarely depict the lower-class milieu as respectfully as this unsentimental drama.
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.
Sling Blade gives you plenty to think about, and neither the story nor the quality of the film can easily be forgotten.
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