Sling Blade: Directorâs Cut
Karl Childers, the role that made Billy Bob Thornton a cinematic superstar (and won him an Oscar for Best Screenplay) is in many ways an impressively gothic creation, and Thornton deserves credit for bringing incredible intensity to the part as well as staying in character from the first frame to the last. However, as a director, Thornton shoots himself in the foot in the credibility department during the much-ballyhooed first twenty minutes of the film: Weâre told that Karl has now been declared âwellâ and is scheduled to be released from the mental hospital he has been in for much of his life since committing murder at a young age, and is now to be interviewed by a young female reporter prior to his return to society. But the fact that the reporter is given all kinds of rules before the interview (no eye contact, no asking questions, the lights must be dimmed, etc) as well as Karlâs showy monologue about the events that put him there convince the viewer that this man is anything but âcuredâ and is really still a dangerous psychopath that needs to be watched, despite the fact that the head doctor (James Hampton) appears to be an idiot who has done nothing but coddle Karl during his stay there. The fact that this individual who is mostly described as âretardedâ (but appears moreso to be autistic) is being released scotfree into society with no outpatient program and not so much as a guardian or legal ward to take care of him reeks entirely of bullshit, and shows that Thornton is not dealing with actual reality when it comes to this story. Once Karl is released (and the movie really begins), things get better as far as the writing and acting goes, with Karl nudging the viewer back and forth between being alternately fascinated and irritated by him as meanwhile the filmâs beautiful cinematography sets the mood of a sleepy southern town perfectly. As Karl soon settles in with a young boy and his mother who befriend him, the story starts to meander quite a bit as it sets up the central conflict: that Karl must somehow âsaveâ this mother and son from the abusive boyfriend (Dwight Yoakam) who has moved into their lives. The problem comes from the moral compass here, as even though the boyfriend is most definitely a drunken asshole prick, he is certainly NOT the âmonsterâ that people make him out to be to Karl, most notably John Ritter as the motherâs homosexual best friend (who seems to have his own agenda since Yoakam picks on him for being gay) as well as the boy himself (who, judging from the circumstances surrounding the suicide of his real father, seems to have some major issues of his own only indirectly related to Yoakam, and the viewer wonders why he has not been to see a child psychologist). Yoakam for his part, does a good job playing the boyfriend as a self-loathing egotist whose biggest crime is just wanting to be the man of the house (and, despite shoving the mother one time in self-defense is NOT seen as being physically abusive, in fact the film has a scene in which the kid actually kicks HIS ass); Ritter as the gay friend has an unintentionally hilarious scene where he describes himself to Karl in a diner, but gives a good restrained performance regardless; J.T. Walsh as Karlâs friend in the nuthouse (who apparently was locked up for being a serial killer) gets good creepy mileage out of limited screen time; but Robert Duvallâs cameo as Karlâs father seems a bit pointless as it merely consists of Karl coming to him to say something and then leaving. Then there is the moral ambiguity of the filmâs ending, where despite the fact that Karl is baptized (!), we actually see him deliberate, plan, and carry out an act of premeditated cold-blooded murder, all in the pretext that it is a âheroicâ act in the name of the people he cares about. As the story winds up with Karl apparently self-satisfied at what he has done, it would seem that only the most callous viewer would actually approve of his actions, rendering much of the story pointless. Overall, worth watching for any Billy Bob fans curious to see just how he made it for himselfâŚ
5/10