Sling Blade

Story

Billy Bob Thornton wrote, directed, and starred in this mesmerizing drama with haunting overtones of To Kill a Mockingbird. Thornton plays a mentally *bleep* 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. The DVD release presents the film in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. --Tom Keogh

DVD Features

• Available subtitles: Spanish
  
• Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
  
• Commentary by writer/director/actor Billy Bob Thornton
  
• Director's cut (22 minuets longer)
  
• Bravo Profiles: Billy Bob Thornton
  
• A Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Duvall
  
• A Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton
  
• A Conversation with Robert Duvall
  
• "The Return of Karl"
  
• "On the Set" 3 part featurette
  
• "Doyle's Dead" with introduction
  
• Reviews
  
• Number of discs: 2

Cast

Brent Briscoe
Robert Duvall
Billy Bob Thornton
J.T. Walsh
John Ritter
Dwight Yoakam
Lucas Black
James Hampton