''Sling Blade'' is a 1996 American psychological drama film written, directed by and starring

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...

. Set in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, it is the story of intellectually challenged Karl Childers and the friendship he develops with a boy and his mother. Karl was released from a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

where he had grown up due to having killed his mother and her lover when he was 12 years old. It also stars

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerable s ...

J. T. Walsh James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor. His many films include: '' Tin Men'' (1987), '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987), ''A Few Good Men'' (1992), '' Hoffa'' (1992), '' Nixon'' (199 ...

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason Ritter, Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for ...

, Lucas Black,

Natalie Canerday Natalie Canerday is an American actress. Canerday is a native of Russellville, Arkansas. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre in 1985 from Hendrix College (where she performed in plays with ''Herman's Head'' star William Ragsdale) ...

, James Hampton, and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

. The film was adapted by Thornton from his previous one-man show ''Swine Before Pearls'', from which he also developed a screenplay for the 1994 short film ''

Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade ''Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade'' is a 1994 short film written by Billy Bob Thornton, directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Thornton, Molly Ringwald, and J. T. Walsh. It was adapted into the 1996 feature film ''Sling Blade'', also sta ...

'', directed by

George Hickenlooper George Loening Hickenlooper III (May 25, 1963 – October 29, 2010) was an American narrative and documentary filmmaker. Early life Hickenlooper was born in St. Louis, the son of Barbara Jo Wenger, a social worker and stage actress, and George ...

. ''Sling Blade'' became a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, launching Thornton into stardom. Thornton won the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...

, and he was also nominated for Best Actor. The music for the soundtrack was provided by

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

musician/producer

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd ...

. ''Sling Blade'' was filmed in 24 days, on location in

Benton, Arkansas Benton is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas, United States. A suburb of Little Rock, it was established in 1837. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,014, making it the 12th most populous city in Arkansa ...

, produced by David L. Bushell and Brandon Rosser.

Plot

Karl Childers is a developmentally disabled

man whose parents physically and mentally abused him when he was young. He has been in the custody of the state

mental hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

since the age of 12 after murdering his mother and her teenage lover, who was also his tormentor, with a

sling blade ''Sling Blade'' is a 1996 American psychological drama film written, directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton. Set in Arkansas, it is the story of intellectually challenged Karl Childers and the friendship he develops with a boy and his moth ...

. Karl believed his mother was being raped and killed the teen in her defense. When he realized his mother was a willing participant in the affair, Karl killed her as well. As a passive person, Karl spends his days quietly staring out a window at an open field and wringing his hands together. He is often forced by Charles, a fellow patient, to listen to his stories about unsolved crimes of murder and rape. Charles was, unbeknownst to the hospital, a serial killer. The state determines that Karl is no longer dangerous and releases him. Karl wants to stay, but is told that he has to leave. He goes back to his hometown, where he finds work as a small engine mechanic. Karl befriends 12-year-old Frank Wheatley and shares details of his past, including the killings. Frank introduces Karl to his mother, Linda, and her gay best friend and boss, Vaughan. Vaughan is concerned about Karl's history, but Linda asks him to move into her garage, which her abusive and alcoholic boyfriend, Doyle begrudgingly accepts. Vaughan tells Karl that he fears Doyle could hurt or kill Linda and Frank one day. Karl becomes a role model to Frank, who misses his deceased father and despises Doyle. As they grow closer, Karl tells Frank that he is haunted by an incident that happened when he was six or eight years old. His parents did not want his baby brother so his father made him dispose of the body. Karl found the baby was still moving, but buried him alive anyway. Karl later visits his sickly father and tries to reconcile, but is rejected. He scolds his father for his past cruelty to him and to his brother and says that he thought many times about killing him, but no longer sees the need as he is an old man and will be dead soon enough. During Doyle's latest drunken outburst, where he refuses to leave Linda's house, Frank fights back. Linda later reconciles with Doyle, who announces that he is moving in with them. He tells Karl that he is no longer welcome. When Frank protests, Doyle grabs him, but Karl intervenes and warns him never to touch Frank again. Doyle insists that he is in charge and orders Karl to leave. Realizing that an unhappy childhood or worse awaits Frank, Karl persuades him and Linda to spend the night at Vaughan's house. Karl tells Frank that he loves him, and gives him a brotherly hug. Karl then asks Vaughan to promise to look after Frank and Linda. Later that evening, he returns to the Wheatley home carrying a sharpened lawn mower blade, and finds Doyle drunk and alone in the living room. After asking Doyle how to call for the police, Karl kills him, calls

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

, and then sits down at the kitchen table to eat biscuits with mustard, a childhood favorite, while waiting for the police to arrive. Karl is returned to the state hospital, but is now more assertive. Charles begins telling him more private stories about unsolved crimes involving sexual violence, and then questions him about his relationship with Frank. This angers Karl, and he turns on Charles and tells him to never speak to him again. As Charles walks away, Karl resumes looking out of the window toward the open field, a slight grin on his face.

Cast

as Karl Childers *

as Doyle Hargraves *

as Charles Bushman *

as Vaughan Cunningham * Lucas Black as Frank Wheatley *

as Linda Wheatley * James Hampton as Jerry Woolridge *

as Frank Childers *

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

as Deke, the Frostee Cream employee * Rick Dial as Bill Cox *

Vic Chesnutt James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little (album), ''Little'', was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the rele ...

as Terence *

Brent Briscoe Brent Briscoe (May 21, 1961 – October 18, 2017) was an American character actor and screenwriter. He was best known for his role as JJ on '' Parks and Recreation'' (2011–2015). Early life Briscoe was born in Moberly, Missouri. After comple ...

as Scooter Hodges *

Mickey Jones Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. He played drums with acts such as Trini Lopez and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on his 1966 world tour. He became a founding member of The First Edition ...

as Johnson * Col. Bruce Hampton as Morris * Christine Renee Ward as Melinda

Production

Thornton conceived the character of Karl while working on the film ''

The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains ''The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains'' is a 1987 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, written by Michael Campus, and is based on the true story '' I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!'' by Robert Elliott Burns. The film stars Val Kilmer, ...

''. He developed the idea into a monologue, which became a one-man show to fund the film. He expanded the monologue into a short film, ''Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade'', directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Thornton, Molly Ringwald, and J. T. Walsh. The film was made with a production budget of $1 million financed by The Shooting Gallery, and was sold to Miramax for $10 million, which at the time was a record price for an independent film.

Release

The film grossed $24,444,121 in the United States against a $1 million production budget. It grossed a further $9.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $34 million.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

''Sling Blade'' has a rating of 97% based on reviews from 58 critics with an average rating of 8.40/10. The site's consensus states "You will see what's coming, but the masterful performances, especially Thornton's, will leave you riveted." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it has a score of 84% based on reviews from 26 critics. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called it a "masterpiece of Southern storytelling". Kevin Thomas wrote in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' that the film is "a mesmerizing parable of good and evil and a splendid example of Southern storytelling at its most poetic and imaginative". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic Janet Maslin praised the performances but said that "it drifts gradually toward climactic events that seem convenient and contrived".

Accolades

References

External links

* * *
Filming Locations
{{Billy Bob Thornton 1996 drama films 1996 films American drama films American films based on plays American independent films Edgar Award–winning works Features based on short films Films about child abuse Films about domestic violence Films directed by Billy Bob Thornton Films set in Arkansas Films shot in Arkansas Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award Southern Gothic films 1996 directorial debut films 1996 independent films Miramax films Films about mother–son relationships Films about disability in the United States 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language independent films Saturn Award–winning films