Sling Blade

Billy Bob USA | 1996 | 135 mins

Billy Bob Thornton (of A Simple Plan and Pushing Tin fame) here makes his directorial debut (also winning an Academy award for the script). The film got a low profile release in the UK, which is a shame as it is a powerful and thought provoking study into whether we have the power to control our destiny or are destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

The film shows the return to the community of a deeply retarded man (played by Thornton), returning to his Deep South hometown after having been rehabilitated in a psychiatric hospital, for killing his own mother with a Sling Blade (a scythe) as a child. Events take a twist when Thornton meets a boy (played by Lucas Black of American Gothic fame) who seems to get on with Thornton, and the two become inseparable friends - despite the difference in age and Thornton's limited mental capacity.

The film's plot unravels slowly, giving a good impression and character development of the film's main characters and the tenderness shown between them or sometimes the lack of it. Thornton effortlessly directs, but rarely falls into the easy stereo­types such as the ‘idiot savant' role, but instead lets the viewer piece together Thornton's history using interview, flashback and cameos by Robert Duval (of Apocalypse Now, The Apostle and Colors) and director Jim Jarmusch.

This is an insightful drama, showing the devastating hurt inflicted on others psychologically and how people feel tied into destructive relationships as they see themselves with few other options.

Still, Thornton manages to deliver this message with a dark humour, showing the prejudices against the retarded character but rarely seeming strained or overacted. Finally it seems Thornton's role is clear and he seems to be one of the few males in the film to show courage or dignity.

Review by Stephen J Brennan
Taken from EUFS programme spring 2000