Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Billy Bob Thornton has really outdone himself this time. He wrote, directed and starred in this movie, about a retarded man who is released from a mental prision. You will love Karl, the character created by Thornton. This is a touching, eye-opening film that I think deserved an Oscar.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies ever!
Review: I had never even heard of this movie until it was nominated for the Oscars at which time I decided to give it a look. To be honest I wasn't expecting much but was I ever suprized. I have never seen a more gripping film in all of my years of movie watching. This movie reaches out, grabs you and won't let you go. I became forever and always a Billy Bob Thornton fan as I watched this film. Never have I seen any better job by any actor. I believe this movie should have completely sweep the Oscars that year because it was truely a work of art. I only wish I could have seen it on the big screen but since I didn't I got my own personal copy asap after renting it from my local video store. If you haven't seen it give yourself a treat and watch a film that truely deserves to be called a film and not just a movie.
Rating:
Summary: Superb acting and riveting characters!
Review: I have watched thousands of films between the 70's - 90's and this film is definitely in my top 10 for films in the last 30 years. All the characters are dynamic and intriguing. From the sympathetic to the loathsome, the characters are engrossing and are never boring. If you like movies about realistic entertaining characters, then this is your movie. I have watched this movie over 10 times and learn more about the characters each time I watch it. If you don't get angry, laugh, cry, and smile when watching this movie, then you better stick to action flicks.
Rating:
Summary: A darker, more sinister Forrest Gump
Review: Thornton portrays a man whose apparent stupidity masks a deeper understanding of morals and circumstance than the common man. Everyone treats him as, and calls him, a "retard", yet he sits in his own presence watching and learning...taking in his surroundings to figure out who is decent, and who isnn't. He just wants to get on with his life, yet, he befriends a young boy by happenstance who he can relate to through common toils and emotion, who he can share his innermost thoughts and dark history with, and who he can - within his own diminished capacity- protect in full with his own paternal....no fraternal....regards.This movie will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you cringe. But it won't let you go until you see it in its entirety, and question the fact - is it okay to kill if it's for a better cause? A must-see.
Rating:
Summary: Billy Bob does everything but sell the popcorn
Review: Billy Bob Thornton took his screenplay and directed himself in this unforgettable film. Thornton's Karl Childers became one of the Icons of American cinema, and I still hear people doing Karl's gravel-throated mumble which gets an immediate look of recognition from the people around. Karl is an essentially good man who is mentally challenged. He recognizes good and bad in others, and he seems to understand his place in the world, even if the intricacies of complex human relationships pass by him as unnoticed as the ozone layer. As the movie opens we learn that Karl is being held in a State Mental Hospital many years after he has killed a couple of people he thought were doing wrong. I'd say more here, but I think it might spoil some of your enjoyment of the movie to learn more - so just watch the movie! We also learn that Karl is being released because they've "cured him". He goes back to his home town with all his worldly belongings in a sack. A kindly Doctor from the institution gets him a job as a lawn-mower mechanic and he meets a little boy who is friendly to him. This is a movie of characters, and simply describing them would not do the characters justice. Karl is a simple man with a pretty well-developed sense of right and wrong. The little boy has lost his father, and the boy's mother, Linda, (portrayed in a wonderfully understated performance by Natalie Canerday) has taken up with a hard drinking, bad-mouthing redneck played by Dwight Yoakam. The late John Ritter is almost unrecognizable playing the soft-spoken crew-cut manager of the store where Linda works. Ritter's Vaughan is devoted to Linda and the little boy, Frank (played by Lucas Black), but Vaughan is also a homosexual in a small town in the south, and his social status is precarious. There are many serious and tender and hilarious and moving scenes, and most of them involve Billy Bob's Karl. For example, there is one scene where Vaughan invites Karl to the diner where Vaughan proceeds to pour his heart out to the uncomprehending Karl. Vaughan goes on about the difficulties he has had in life, and with his father, and being a homosexual. The entire time Karl sits silently, eating his "french-fried 'taters". Vaughan finally pauses and says "You always seem to be deep in thought. Tell me, what are you thinking right now?"
Karl replies: "I was thinkin', I'm gonna take me some of these taters home with me." This movie will stick with you long after you have seen it. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A legendary performance for Billy Bob Thornton
Review: Sling Blade starts out at a mental home where Karl, played by Thornton, is being released after 25 years. He killed his mother and a boyfriend after he caught them having sex and he didn't think it seemed right. But Karl is deemed to be safe for society and he is also a man with a good heart that when asked if he will do it again replies,"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody." Karl, by the way is somewhat mentally challenged. So it is time to be released, and Karl returns to the town he used to call home with no place to go and no one to return to (except a father who will not recognize him). Karl befriends a young boy named Frank, and the two are friends from the start. Both of them share some of the same emotional issues, but in Frank's case it is due to his mother's abusive boyfriend Doyle (played by Dwight Yoakam). Karl gets a job working on small engines at a local garage and lives there for a while, but Frank and his mother agree it would be good for Karl to live with them. From the first time Karl meets Doyle, he begins to see what a terrible person he is. Doyle is constantly belittling Frank and Vaughn (a friend of Frank's mother who is gay), and is verbally and physically abusive to Linda (Frank's mom). Karl appears to be a very simple man, but it is apparent that his mind is always at work analyzing the people around him. Doyle grows worse and worse, and Karl becomes increasingly fed up with him. Karl always remains calm no matter the situation, but we start to see that he is the only one who can make things better for Linda, Frank and Vaughn and that as the movie progresses Karl realizes something must be done. I will spare you the ending, but the final conflict revolves around Karl's love for Frank and Linda and with him making a choice, a choice that could send him back to the mental hospital. This is an incredible movie that deserves all of the notariety is has collected since its release. It won many awards, and deservingly so. There is a little bit of dark comedy here, some tragedy (like when Karl is talking about his brother he had to bury when he was just born), but most of all it is a disturbing examination of internal conflict in one simple man that really is a good guy at heart. It is pretty disturbing at times, so you have been warned. The movie is nothing short of perfect though and it is definately one that you need to see in your lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: A Five-Star Production!
Review: Billy Bob Thornton delivers another powerful and thought provoking script and acting with the making of Sling Blade. I didn't know what to expect at first when my husband suggested buying this DVD. He had read reviews, but I had not.
Boy, was I surprised to find such an outstanding picture. It really brings one back to the truth that you can't judge a book by its cover. And I'm not talking about the title and cover of the DVD, but about the characters in the movies. The character of Karl had been judged by society and suffered the consequences. If this is the way the world operates, we are all susceptible to being judged or judging someone we consider to be 'beneath' us.
Buy this movie. You won't regret it. Excellect script. Excellent performance.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I won't lie: the only reason I purchased "Sling Blade" was because I adore Dwight Yoakam (who turns in a delightfully wicked performance as the evil Doyle Hargraves.) I honestly really didn't expect much from the film when I first bought it.
Not surprisingly, I ultimately got a lot out of "Sling Blade". On the surface, it's dark, hard to understand, and seemingly pointless at times. Beneath the surface, however, it's intelligent, meaningful, and true to human nature. "Sling Blade" will be sure to make you examine yourself and think about true, selfless sacrifice.
Rating:
Summary: You Had to be There!
Review: The name put me off but a friend sent it and insisted I watch it, wow he was right. What an impact this movie made on me! It is almost as if the character Carl was in my head especially when he was getting out of the State Hospital and said that "he guessed he had to get used to looking at the pretty people"! When one has been in a cage most of their childhood without love and then the cage is opened and love is offered it becomes a person's downfall and that safe cage looks good again, tho' I do not think Cark consciously killed our of love again to get back there, but that is what happened in my understanding of the movie. Can say, analogy wise, been there and have gone back to my cage. Love is the undoing of a person who was not given it in formative years so only understands by reading the definition in a dictionary. Mr. Thornton I considered this one of the greatest films I have seen in many a year. Thank you! Margaret Baylor
Rating:
Summary: Karl is full of Jesus' love
Review: I could have never imagined that the movie would touch me in such a powerful way. I was in awe for quite some time after watching it.
Well, my narrative comes mostly from the Christian perspective.
I saw Jesus Christ quite clearly in the person of Karl. Karl's simple but at the same time deeply loving personality reminded me of Jesus. Just like Jesus, Karl decided to sacrifice his life for others. Also, the movie is full of Christian overtones since Karl appears to be a very strong believer in God.
Also, the theme of broken families/relationships runs deeply through the script. The parental abuse and its implications are shown in a bright light. The band of "damaged souls" meet at Vaughn's table...is quite a scene.
The actor performances were terrific; Billy Bob, Yoakam and Duval should get five and a half stars for their acting work.
Great movie, must see.
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