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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Miramax
Salesrank: 28723
Released: February 4, 1998 |
| Our Price: $12.51 |
| Used Price: $3.90 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Billy Bob Thornton wrote, directed, and starred in this mesmerizing drama with haunting overtones of To Kill a Mockingbird. Thornton plays a mentally retarded man who has spent 20 years in a psychiatric hospital for killing his mother and her lover. Released into the community from which he came, he befriends and protects a lonely boy regularly harassed and abused by his mom's boyfriend (a terrific performance by Dwight Yoakam). The story is ultimately about sacrifice, but Thornton certainly doesn't get twinkly about it. Some of the best material concerns the hero's no-big-deal efforts to integrate into a "normal" life: working, eating fast food, earning admiration for his handyman skills, and attaining a semblance of community among other damaged souls. John Ritter has a great part as a gay shopkeeper who tries to assuage his own loneliness by spilling his guts out to Thornton's uncomprehending character. --Tom Keogh
Sling Blade Reviews:
Well,Alright then! 
2009-12-15 - This is a wonderful film, and not what you would expect from the title.It definitely is no "slasher" story. The character of Carl is so finely tuned and so honest, it stays with you from the second you see him.You won't ever forget him. I admit I enjoy the scenes with Frankie the most. Carl's love for the boy, and the interaction between them, is what really drives this film. All the performances,however, are beautifully realized.
Good
2009-12-07 - Bought this dvd for a friend. She was very pleased. It had the deluxe edition with extra bonus features which she loved.
like new
2009-11-02 - Great movie bought used but everyhting in it looked like new. As for the movie it's a classic I'm sure just about everyone has seen, funny yet serious, everyone should see it at least once, but once isn't enough so you should buy it!!
When I can not forget each scene then it was a good movie.
2009-10-14 - I won't tell you the story. I will tell you how it was told and give some information that may increase the joy and insight that you can get from this masterpiece. Real life takes time and is filled with little telling events that you can unlock if you are a good listener, and not just another speaker waiting to talk. This string of simple and sometimes silly events are told through Karl at his pace and understanding. This story is about trust and the abuse that does not leave scars.
In 1955 a retarded adult neighbor named Ike played baseball with us in our small Illinois town. He lived in a shack with an elderly couple without utilities. They were not his parents but just some people who took him in. He was invited to our birthday parties because he never got ice cream. He was big, scary and drooled but there was a place for him until the old people died. We had out grown Ike and at my first Thanksgiving home from college I learned that he had gone to an institution and soon died there. No one knew why. We didn't have mean people in our town but I can see this story could have been real and "To kill a Mockingbird" could have also happened.
The Title Turned Me Off
2009-09-19 - Horror, Murder, Sci-Fi crap turn me completely OFF & to this day I can't remember how I happened to watch this video but watch it I have over & over again. Each of the actors played their parts perfectly. Billy Bob Thornton will have a tremendous job of ever doing a better job in another movie than he did in this. He did such an unbelievable portrayal of Karl. Each of the rest of the actors, Lucas Black was perfect for the part of the boy who was about to be 'shut out' by his single mother's lover(Dwight Yoakam)---that had a drinking problem among others. W/o giving anything away its a grown ups video of life as it happens in small town America which just happend to be Arkansas. Best video you'll see in a looooog time.
