Sling Blade Director’s Cut (Blu-ray)

Filed Under: Blu-ray, Reviews | Article Tags : Blu-ray review

By: The Dweeb

Blu-ray Features Video: 1.85:1 1080P Audio: DTS HD-MA 5.1,  Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo Mr. Thornton Goes To Hollywood Bravo Profiles: Billy Bob Thornton Roundtable Discussion A Conversation With Billy Bob Thornton And Robert Duvall A Conversation With Robert DuVall A Conversation With Billy Bob Thornton And Composer Daniel Lanois The Return Of Karl On The Set: - Billy Bob At Work - Doyle’s Band: The Johnsons - Doyle Gets Pummeled Doyle’s Dead – With Billy Bob Introduction Feature Commentary By Writer/Director/Actor Billy Bob Thornton Theatrical release: 11/27/1996 DVD released on 8/04/2009 by Miramax Running time of 135 minutes Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, John Ritter, Dwight Yoakam Director: Billy Bob Thornton Plot: 25 years after committing an unthinkable crime, a quiet man named Karl finally returns home. Once there, he’s befriended by a fatherless boy and his mother. But when his newfound peace is shattered by the mother’s abusive boyfriend, Karl is suddenly placed on a collision course with his past.

Every once in a while, a film will come along and just blow the doors out. They come from unlikely corners, are unexpected and usually the people involved pole vault themselves into the limelight. Directors like Spike Lee, George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino or Francis Ford Coppola come to mind. As a relative newcomer, BIlly Bob Thornton can easily make this list with Sling Blade, and like the others mentioned their stars can tarnish with time.  Gotta watch out for those early flame outs, why is that so common? Sling Blade was just so different from the rest of the pack that it is a film that stands on its own, and would make any top ten list of great films from the 1990’s.  Ever since then, I don’t think ole Billy Bob has been able to produce any able body of work that comes even remotely close, sadly he’s become more of a caricature of himself lately.

Sling Blade is Billy Bob’s film, he owns it and the character of Karl, the simple minded man who is released back in society after years in a mental home. You just don’t know what to make of him, will he snap yet once again and go postal? Others around him are uneasy when they first meet him, but he has this child like mentality, he is just trying to fit into the world again and most of them eventually empathize with him.  His mannerisms, voice and ticks become somewhat charming, kinda like Forrest Gump but with an under layer of crazy psychopath mixed in for good measure. As the film progresses, one has to wonder if he really is the normal one in this film. Vaughan (John Ritter) is the only one to ask what he is thinking, as if Karl is some sort of philosopher. Like in The Soloist,  the reality is that Karl is only thinking of french fry potaters. There is no miracle man behind the scenes, just simple Karl.

There is an ever present tension in this film, and its not emanating from Karl although you’d think it would be. Its everyone else, from the redneck boyfriend Doyle (Dwight Yoakam) to Karl’s father (Robert Duvall). It doesn’t help that the films opens in the mental hospital with a command crazy performance from Charles (J.T. Walsh in his best role ever) who is more sick in the head than anyone else. That dude is just too damn creepy. It seems that many of these characters are capable of flying off the handle at a moments notice, and do including the boy Frank (Lucas Black). You would think it would be Karl doing this but he just lumbers through.

As I said, Billy Bob is amazing to watch in his transformation as Karl. Half the time you can’t even tell its him, but he’s not in any makeup or prosthetics.  He’s an odd, lumbering, Frankenstein who wanders through life thinking about french fries and mustard. He can be funny, heartwarming in one scene, and then walk on the dark side the next which can make for a tough, uncomfortable movie to watch (as intended naturally).  He is a troubled lost soul. In the beginning of the film, his first words are of what sounds like a hellish childhood. Forced to live on the dirt floor in the shed in the backyard, he never really went to school. He experienced many awful things, and made some really awful mistakes. But his childlike mentality maintains his innocence, so instead of going to prison he is just put in a mental home. He just doesn’t know any better, hence his strong relationship with Frank the boy, his first true friend. “I like the way you talk.”

This Blu-ray package is an update to the earlier released 2 disc special edition DVD with the same feature set, the presentation of the menus are simple. I do have to say this film look mighty nice on the Blu-ray, the transfer is quite good. Its clean, there are no visible imperfections or dirt and looks nice on a larger screen monitor. I didn’t notice any blockiness in darker scenes which can be a problem with older films which I have seen on other catalog releases. I have to say Miramax did the hard work to make this film look its best. The cinematography has this dreamy washed out look, colors stick to an earth toned pallet. Is this a hallmark of films that are set in the south or what? I see this in a lot of movies that take place there.  There are no real surprises with the extra features included as they are not new. But they are quite lengthy and one can spend a lot of time learning about Sling Blade and how it came to be. I found the featurette  Mr. Thornton Goes To Hollywood as the most interesting of the bunch, basically its several interviews cobbled together to tell the Billy Bob story. Some of it is interesting trivia, some of it is just rambling, but I got sucked in anyway. “I just like to hear you talk” uhh huuh.

For what it is, this Blu-ray is an excellent release and for any fan of this film they should definitely consider getting it for a permanent spot on the shelf.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!