Sling Blade Page #2

Synopsis: A partially handicapped man named Karl is released from a mental hospital, about 20 years after murdering his mother and another person. Karl is often questioned if he will ever kill again, and he shrugs in response saying there is no reason to. Now out of the mental institution, Karl settles in his old, small hometown, occupying himself by fixing motors. After meeting a young boy named Frank, who befriends him, Karl is invited to stay at Frank's house with his mother Linda, who views Karl as a strange but kind and generous man. However, Linda's abusive boyfriend, Doyle, sees things differently in the way rules ought to be run- normally insulting Linda's homosexual friend Vaughan as well as Karl's disabilities, and having wild parties with his friends. As Karl's relationship with Frank grows, he is watchful of Doyle's cruel actions.

Genre: Drama

Director(s): Billy Bob Thornton

Actors: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter

Production: Miramax Films

Won 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 15 nominations.


IMDB:: 8.0
Metacritic:: 84
Rotten Tomatoes:: 96%

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: R
Year:: 1996
: 135 min
: 1,550 Views

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Didn't pay 'em much of a wage.
Didn't pay my daddy too much of a wage.
Just barely enough to get by on,
I reckon.
But I reckon he got by all right.
They used to come out,
one or the other of 'em,
usually my mother,
feed me pretty regular.
I know he made enough where I could have
mustard and biscuits
three or four times a week.
But old man Dixon, he had a boy.
His name was Jesse Dixon.
Jesse was really more cruel
than his daddy was.
He used to make
quite a bit of sport of me
when I was down there
at the schoolhouse.
He used to take advantage of little
girls there in the neighborhood an' all.
He used to say that my mother
was a very pretty woman.
He said that quite a bit
from time to time
when I'd be down there
at the schoolhouse.
Well... I reckon
you want me to get on with it
and tell you what happened,
so I reckon I'll tell you.
I was sittin' out in the shed
one evening, not doing too much,
just kindly staring at the wall,
waiting on my mother to come out
and give me my Bible lesson.
Well, I heard a commotion
up there in the house.
So I run up on the screened-in porch
to see what was a-goin' on.
I looked in the window
and seen my mother on the floor,
without any clothes on.
I seen Jesse Dixon
a-layin' on top of her.
He was having his way with her.
Well, I just seen red.
I picked up a Kaiser blade that was
sitting there by the screen door.
Some folks call it a sling blade,
I call it a Kaiser blade.
It's kindly a long wood handle,
kind of like an axe handle.
With a long blade on it
shaped kind of like a banana.
Sharp on one edge and dull on the other.
It's what the highway boys use
to cut down weeds and whatnot.
Well, I went in there in the house,
and I hit Jesse Dixon
upside the head with it,
knocked him off my mother.
I reckon that didn't quite satisfy me.
So I hit him again with it in the neck
with the sharp edge
and just plumb near cut his head off,
killed him.
My mother she jumped up
and started hollerin',
"What did you kill Jesse for?
What did you kill Jesse for?" Well...
come to find out
I don't reckon my mother minded
what Jesse was a-doin' to her.
I reckon that made me madder
than what Jesse had made me.
So I taken the Kaiser blade,
some folks call it a sling blade,
I call it a Kaiser blade,
and I hit my mother
upside the head with it.
Killed her.
Some folks has asked me,
"If you had it to do over again,
would you do it the same way?"
Well, I reckon I would.
Anyhow, they seen fit
to put me in here,
and here I've been
for a great long while.
I've learned to read some.
Took me four years to read the Bible.
I reckon I understand

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Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer, songwriter, and musician. Thornton had his first break when he co-wrote and starred in the 1992 thriller One False Move, and received international attention after writing, directing, and starring in the independent drama film Sling Blade (1996), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He appeared in several major film roles in the 1990s following Sling Blade, including Oliver Stone's neo-noir U Turn (1997), political drama Primary Colors (1998), science fiction disaster film Armageddon (1998), the highest-grossing film of that year, and the crime drama A Simple Plan (1998), which earned him his third Oscar nomination. In the 2000s, Thornton achieved further success in starring dramas Monster's Ball (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), and Friday Night Lights (2004); comedies Bandits (2001), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), and Bad Santa (2003); and action films Eagle Eye (2008) and Faster (2010). In 2014, Thornton starred as Lorne Malvo in the first season of the anthology series Fargo, earning a nomination for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie at the Emmy Awards and won Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. In 2016, he starred in an Amazon original series, Goliath, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. Thornton has been vocal about his distaste for celebrity culture, choosing to keep his life out of the public eye. However, the attention of the media has proven unavoidable in certain cases, his marriage to Angelina Jolie being a notable example. Thornton has written a variety of films, usually set in the Southern United States and mainly co-written with Tom Epperson, including A Family Thing (1996) and The Gift (2000). After Sling Blade, he directed several other films, including Daddy and Them (2001), All the Pretty Horses (2000), and Jayne Mansfield's Car (2012). Thornton has received the President's Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, a Special Achievement Award from the National Board of Review, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has also been nominated for an Emmy Award, four Golden Globes, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In addition to film work, Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter. He has released four solo albums and is the vocalist of the blues rock band The Boxmasters. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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Sling Blade Page #2

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