BrianSez's Review

Summary - Really Great 4.5

An incredibly engrossing story that marries a good-hearted person with a bad childhood and shows us what happens as a result. Sling Blade’s top notch screenplay brings out incredible character depth from all involved, but the incredible performance and thoroughly engaging storytelling by Billy Bob Thorton is truly memorable and affirms why he thoroughly deserved his Oscars for this movie.

Acting - Great 4.0

Billy-Bob gets so in to his part, that it is hard to even recognize who is he is at first. An over-the-top performance indeed. Also tremendous was Lucas Black as the young friend and Dwight Yoakum as the bigoted mom’s boyfriend. Big nods to John Ritter and Natalie Canerday as well. I would have liked to have seen more of Robert Duvall, who only teased us with his presence.

Film - Really Great 4.5

Reminiscent of Forrest Gump, Sling Blade also enjoys success by placing us in the south — which somehow makes the events more plausible and the ease of focus on folk more realistic. Drama and touchy subjects are the central themes of this movie, and it is all served up in spades. The formula of using a person who is mentally challenged to bring out the true personalities of others has been done before, but nevertheless SB makes it feel unique because of the story and the outstanding acting.

Edge - Sordid 2.6

Murder, abortion, homosexuality, domestic violence — lots of sensitive topics covered in this film. No grotesque violence, but you don’t need to see it to get it.

Reality - Glib 1.5

Apparently based on a true story, and it shows.

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