![]() ![]() Country singer Yoakam makes Doyle much more than a redneck cad he’s a terrified man caught in waves of conflicting personality. Ritter deep-sixes his cheesy sitcom image with a fascinating, subtly modulated performance. He’s supported brilliantly by the actors around him. Whether he’s negotiating for French fries with the guy at a Frostie Cream stand (Jim Jarmusch), icily describing the slaying of his mother, or joking with Frank about the revolting ingredients in a can of meat, he keeps you in constant thrall. Or is it?Īs Karl, Thornton’s a stunning presence. But Doyle is so obnoxious, something is bound to give. Karl has the best intentions and, since leaving the asylum (which he calls "the nervous hospital"), has attained a simplistic serenity. ![]() Predictably, Karl’s bond with Frank becomes a new source of irritation. Doyle, who frequently uses Linda’s place for impromptu drinking and card-playing parties, is also derisive towards Linda’s devoted, gay friend, Vaughan (John Ritter). Linda, Frank’s mother, is stuck with an abusive boyfriend called Doyle (Dwight Yoakam), who makes no secret of his animosity to Frank. Karl finds himself caught up in a familiar home situation. When Frank persuades his widowed mother (Natalie Canerday) to let Karl sleep in their garage, an almost Huck-Jim friendship is born between the boy and the childlike man. And soon after his arrival, Karl is befriended by Frank Wheatley (Lucas Black), a plucky kid who accepts him immediately. The asylum administrator (Jimmy Hampton) has set up a job for him at the local fix-it shop. When Karl makes his reentry into his hometown, carrying a handful of books (including the Bible) tied up with string, he’s given a fighting chance. "I don’t reckon I got no reason to kill nobody," he replies. "Will you ever kill anybody again, Karl?" asks the reporter. Listening to him, we’re sucked into the soft-spoken whirlpool of his soul. The sides of his head are shaved close in an absurd, pudding-bowl cut. His upper lip is shoved tightly inside the lower one. He punctuates his sentences with a low, guttural Mmmmm-hmmmmm. Karl seems lost in himself, entombed in a sort of living death. "Some folks call it a kaiser blade," he says of the scythe-like instrument he used to kill the pair. When the 12-year-old witnessed his mother having sex with one of his chief tormentors, he thought he should intervene. Born dirt-poor in a southern town to religious fanatics, he was raised on the Bible and the taunts of others. Karl, his face half-bathed in darkness, tells a grim story. It is the interviewee who will control this conversation. The reporter - an intimidated college student - must not stare directly at Karl, nor ask questions. The withdrawn, slightly retarded inmate, who’s about to leave a state mental hospital after 25 years, has agreed to an interview with a reporter. In "Sling Blade," we’re lured into a chilling encounter with convicted killer Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton). 'Sling Blade': Precision Work By Desson Howe ![]()
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