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A pretty random review/rant here regarding a film that went unnoticed to some extent upon it’s release (1996) but should be at least somewhat famous. At a time when Hollywood is struggling to justify rising special effects costs and originality seems a dirty word (something that could also be applied to many of the conglomerates in the games industry but that’s another rant for another day…), it’s somehow ironic that one of the most memorable films I know of features little if any of the first and reams of the second.

Interestingly, it also says much for what’s possible when someone with real talent and vision is given complete creative control. Billy Bob Thornton both wrote, directed, and starred as the main character (Karl Childers).

Sling blade is many things, but essentially it’s a film about simplicity, about the fact that sometimes, in fact quite often, the most important people in the world are those that make the least sound of all, and those with the biggest hearts often suffer the greatest pain. It’s hard to say too much about a film like this without spoiling the plot, so forgive me if my prose seems somewhat abstract.

This film is not about any conventional hero, but instead a mentally handicapped man who is nonetheless both deeply intelligent and at the same time quite talented. It is not about action or adventure or saving the world as such.

It’s a film about purity, about a mind so simple and absolute that it sees things in the clearest light. But mostly, it’s about simply knowing ‘what is right’, and doing so without any pretension or arrogance. And no, I am NOT going to tell you what happens. I don’t see the point in that and I despise reviews that do so. I watch a film to see a story be told, not to see a story repeated. I will however tell you it is one of the most gorgeously directed films I’ve ever seen, the acting is incredibly natural, subtle, painful and mesmerizing all at once, and the photography is simply exactly as it should be.

The music, what there is of it, is fitting and mostly ‘ambient’ in nature, if not style. But like the rest of the film, the subtlety of it is what impresses.

A word of warning to the uninitiated though, this film is slow, painfully slow, and that’s how it should be. We are made to agonize over the minutiae of each characters strengths and flaws. One is made to feel as if we truly know these characters, that they are living as they are in the film, in Arkansas, that they are ‘real’. And I don’t mean real in the stupid way ‘reality television’ claims to be real. The wonderful thing about Sling Blade is as dramatic as it is, it never feels dramatized. Even in it’s darkest moments nothing seems implausible or out of place, nothing feels exaggerated.

Also, because this film isn’t set in some possible future, and instead focuses on the world as it is, in painful detail, it has a timeless quality that will ensure it will always have the same effect on those who appreciate it for what it is.

So who should watch this film exactly, how are these ‘people’ of which I speak? That might seem a harsh question but the truth is this film, like any truly great work if art, hinges it’s value upon those that see it and their perceptions. Shallow people should be wary, for this film will offer a harsh reflection and they may not like what they see. Those seeking something ‘exciting’ in the literal sense should also avoid. This film is not about temporary stimuli but instead long term contemplation. To be blunt, if you want a film that will make you think, a film that will stay in your mind for some time, poring over minor details, then I recommend you rent this film ASAP if you haven’t and see it for yourself.

For me, what makes this film amazing is that, after all these years, and having seen it several times during that period, the thing that comes to my mind most of all is that, truthfully, I don’t think there ARE any minor details in this film. Perhaps that’s the point. Every word matters, every gesture has significance, every movement has effect, for every action there is a consequence.

If I had to rate this film, I would give it 10/10 I suppose, though it seems crass to reduce a film like this down to numbers. Why a perfect score? Because there is nothing to be changed in it. In terms of what it does, it does it without fail or hindrance, and I’ve yet to see any film do it better.

Sling Blade is not about anything except the human condition, in its simplest form, for good and evil and all of the grays in-between in which most of us live our lives. And for that, it’s quite remarkable indeed.

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