A simple man. A difficult choice.
Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.
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Character
Earnest, contemplative, contemporary and classical in form.
- earnestironic
- contemplativerelentless
- contemporarynostalgic
- classical in formformally daring
- gravecomic
Who loves it, who doesn't
47 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Sinceres.
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“Would a little humor have helped?”
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“Is Sling Blade too earnest?”
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“Is Sling Blade a masterpiece, not merely a very good film?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Apr 20249/10
**A film full of challenges, to which Billy Bob Thornton, in his greatest work, responded categorically.** I didn't really know what I was going to find when I decided to watch this film, and I'm happy about that: it's a really good, convincing and moving story, which doesn't try to escape the harsh reality of things to create unbelievable heroes. And it is probably the most solid and significant work of Billy Bob Thornton's career. In fact, he not only plays the main role, but is also responsible for the script and direction. It is a labor of love, of total and absolute commitment, which makes this film a "Magnum Opus", even though Thornton has done other works that are equally notable and full of talent. In this story, we follow a seemingly kind and harmless man who has lived his entire life in a mental institution where he was imprisoned as a child, after killing his mother and her boyfriend. Now, he is a mature man, but he doesn't know anything about the outside world, he has no connections of any sort with anyone (he has a father, but there is no emotional bond between them) and he has a serious mental disability. However, doctors consider him well enough to return to a normal
Read the whole review on TMDB - Wuchakon TMDB · Dec 20196/10
***When a murderer is the likable protagonist, mmm-hmm*** A simple, slow, seemingly pensive man (Billy Bob Thornton) is released from a mental hospital in central Arkansas after 30 years and gets a job fixing lawnmowers. He makes friends with a boy & his mother (Natalie Canerday) and they let him live in their garage, but the mother’s abusive boyfriend presents a problem (Dwight Yoakam). John Ritter is on hand as the mother’s gay best friend. "Sling Blade" (1996) is a small town drama with a memorable central character (if I didn’t know beforehand that Thornton played the role, I wouldn’t have recognized him). The characters and their situations smack of real life while the unhurried story is interesting enough. There are well-done moments of meditation and revelation, as well as touching ones. It’s a tad overlong, however, and the politically correct glorification of Vaughan (Ritter) is eye-rolling. Karl (Thornton) observes that “The Bible says two men ought not lay together. But I don't reckon the Good Lord would send anybody like you to Hades.” Yet his opining doesn’t mean much since he candidly acknowledges elsewhere that he doesn’t understand a lot of the Scriptures, not to me
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Cast
- Billy Bob ThorntonKarl Childers
- Dwight YoakamDoyle Hargraves
- J.T. WalshCharles Bushman
- John RitterVaughan Cunningham
- Lucas BlackFrank Wheatley
- Natalie CanerdayLinda Wheatley
- James HamptonJerry Woolridge
- Robert DuvallKarl's Father
- Rick DialBill Cox
- Brent BriscoeScooter Hodges
Crew
- Billy Bob ThorntonDirector
- Billy Bob ThorntonScreenplay
- Barry MarkowitzDirector of Photography
- Daniel LanoisOriginal Music Composer
- Hughes WinborneEditor
- Brandon RosserProducer
- David L. BushellProducer
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Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
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Both contemplative, earnest, contemporary.
Let the Right One In 200880% alikeBoth contemporary, contemplative, earnest.
Hoop Dreams 199480% alikeBoth earnest, contemporary, classical in form.
Dolores Claiborne 199579% alikeBoth earnest, contemplative, contemporary.
Jerichow 200879% alikeBoth contemporary, earnest, contemplative.
March Comes In Like a Lion 201680% alikeTelevision · Both earnest, contemporary, contemplative.
Normal People 202078% alikeTelevision · Both contemporary, earnest, contemplative.
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