This film can be both HEAVY & lovely to watch all at the same time. Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day!

He couldn't protect his little brother, but he was able to protect his "adoptive" little brother and try and give him a chance in life his real little brother never got.

One of my all time favorite films. Billy Bob's masterpiece.

sometimes I'll say "let me get some of them french fried taters you got back there" and no one ever knows what I'm talking about lol

This movie was pretty big when it came out, all sorts of awards, but it seems to have been relatively forgotten. This is the first time I've seen anyone mention it in a couple decades

This movie is a gem in so many ways. RIP John Ritter. 🧡

"How are you this unhinged without the internet?" This was a profoundly brilliant quote my dude!!! Great film and great reaction!

This film and Robert Duvall's The Apostle are like twin wonders of slow, clear, wise, elegant and spiritual Southern storytelling. They were made during the last days of a world not dominated by Internet noise. In the theater back then Sling Blade really cast a spell.

Great acting by everyone! Dwight Yoakam was so good in this

A super underrated classic that is rarely seen reviewed or reacted to on KZfaq.

Dwight Yokum and John Ritter were both terrific in this as well

So many great performances and amazing casting choices. Country star Dwight Yoakam? John Ritter as Vaughan? Love it.

This is film is so underrated it's sickening. This is top 50 of all time easily, it may even be top 20. Billy used a lot of his real life experiences with trauma when writing this film. It's ludicrous that this film got one Oscar win and only one other nomination. It wasn't even nominated for best picture.

I saw this in the theater when it came out. It completely opened my eyes up to the world of independent films, and to this day is one of my favorite films ever.

I literally gasped when I saw that you are reacting to this can't freaking wait

Thornton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for this as he first made a short film based on a one man show he did as the character of Karl. Great reaction man, have a great rest of your day and a great weekend!

Little bit of trivia… The guy working the counter at the little restaurant was Jim Jarmusch. An independent film legend.

Oh wowww. I can’t express how this was such a thing when it came out. Everyone who saw it was talking about it, analyzing it and it really made an impact. Billy Bob Thornton!

RIP John Ritter, he was wonderful in this film.

There is such a specific good feeling that comes with seeing one of your favorite reaction channels reacting to one of your favorite movies. Especially those movies which encourage intense scrutiny and analysis. Stoked.

So happy to get a reaction to this masterpiece. When I was in the Marines me and a buddy were going to watch a movie and Slingblade was one of the previews. I said, great movie, he said, never seen it. I hit stop on the player and we went back to the video store for Slingblade.

I put this on the short list of nearly perfect movies. Screenwriting is brilliant. acting, set design, music, everything, cinematography just fantastic.

This movie was THE critical darling when it was released in 1996. It's the reason we even know who Billy Bob is. Idk why it's fallen off in popularity over the years but definitely underrated and an all around acting masterclass from the entire cast.

So glad you tackled this gem of a movie. It was one of the most transformative movies for me when I was in my twenties. Never thought I'd see anyone reacting to it, because it seems it's been almost forgotten by history. Shout out to the Patreon supporters who recommended this: you guys ROCK! As so often, your commentary is on point! Thanks!

Billy Bob was amazing. But I forgot John Ritter was even in this. And JT Walsh, who played the grapist inmate, was so disturbingly chilling. TV or movies, he always brings it. No small roles

Sling Blade is one of the VERY few films I'd consider to be a perfect film, it's absolutely incredible and often missed by most of the public.

After I saw this movie in the theater, I had to purchase it the moment is was released on DVD so I could really analyze the characters. When I really envisioned Carl's early life from his dialogue, it is my opinion that he 100% sacrificed himself to see that Frank would not suffer from the abuse he had suffered as a child. I don't think there was anything organically wrong with Carl, just a limited ability to communicate & interact with others. It seems as though he thought out his actions & knew the consequences when he killed Doyle. If not for his severe childhood trauma & dire living conditions, Carl may have been a fully functioning member of society. Just my opinion here, of course, but to me the dialogue was very simply expressed yet spoke volumes.

FINALLY! Someone is finally reacting to this masterpiece!

I've been waiting so long for more people to see this movie and especially react to it. It's a genuine masterpiece. It's a pinnacle of the Southern Gothic genre. It's a small cast of characters but literally everyone plays their role perfectly.

This was such a good movie and one of my favorites. Sad that they no longer make American movies with this easy, relaxed pacing that still does such a great job at moving the story along. Maybe an occasional low budget indie film? Viewers are so used to fast paced, quick dialog movies with very little story to them. This is a great film to actually watch actors act.

Two more vastly underrated Billy Bob films, one he also wrote, One False Move (1992), and the Coen brothers The Man Who Wasn't There.

FINALLY...a reactor watches this wonderful film.

J.T. Walsh's opening scene is incedible. What amazing actors he and John Ritter were. R.I.P.

I still remember when this movie was a couple of weeks into release, I hadn’t seen it yet, But Billy Bob Thornton was doing press ahead of the Oscars, and I remember him doing an interview with a morning radio show, where after he did his job promoting the movie, he just hung out with the shock jocks for an hour. During that session, they got the idea to have Billy Bob call phone sex lines, while in character as Karl. It was one of the funniest things I had ever heard. That’s what I like about Billy Bob. While he can make heavy dramas, he can still not take himself too seriously.

Such a great movie Lucas Black, who plays Frank, was also in the 1995-96 show "American Gothic"... which is one of my all time favorite shows, incredibly underrated show.

When I saw this movie back in the day, I had never heard of Billy Bob Thornton. The awards earned by this piece of work are inadequate, it's a true masterpiece, thanks James.

If you want to watch more Billy Bob Thornton, I'd recommend A Simple Plan. Recently finished college, btw :)

Just love watching you say “I don’t think he’s gonna kill Doyle” knowing exactly what was coming 😂. I think that once you commit an act of sheer violence as Karl did in his youth, the capacity to do that again never truly leaves you, even someone as decent as Karl.

This came out the year I graduated high school. I was 18 years old and went to see it in the theatre and was absolutely stunned. It was such an incredible movie. Even though it was a low budget movie it actually was talked about quite a bit when it came out. It got quite a bit of press. Unfortunately it seems to of been kinda forgotten about in recent years. I wish more people would react to this incredible movie!

When Carl wrote "you Will be happy" in a note with the books he gave the boy....... Every time.

I am shocked more reactors haven’t done this phenomenal movie - kudos to you. And what a great reaction! This is in my top 10 best movies of all times. Thank you!!

A great performance here by a young Lucas Black who would go on to work with Billy Bob again in ALL THE PRETTY HORSES and turn in and even MORE incredible performance...

oooooooooooooooooh shit. I never thought I'd see a reaction to this on KZfaq. So excited you're taking it on. My father used to do impressions of the "MHHMmmm" and "I reckon I killed some people. Hacked 'em up with a lawnmower blade. Mhm" when I was a kid to crack himself up and none of us got it. Then eventually I got old enough to watch the movie and it was weird hearing the origins of these really dark-humor references my father kept in the back of his mind. Definitely an excellent movie. My father passed within this last year so you randomly popping up with this and reminding of that is pretty special. It's weird to think hearing my father grumble "I reckon I killed some people" at the dinner table while chuckling to himself about it would be such a wonderful memory to cherish but it is. This movie means a lot to me in that random way. I'm so glad you found it ✊

the metamorphosis that Billy Bob went through to fully embrace the role he created for himself is nothing less than phenomenal. Absolutely amazing, compelling movie and acting.

This film won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay. It's based on a short film by Billy Bob Thornton of the same name. I love the channel man. You lick some amazing flimsy/TV. Keep up the great work. 👍

The first scene at the burger stand that was cutout featured the great director Jim Jarmusch as the goofy guy running the place. Doyle is played by Dwight Yokam, a famous alt-country star, and Carl's father is the legend, Robert Duvall-- such an amazing cast.

One of my favorite movies of all time. I have seen lots of Billy Bob and the transformation to this movie should have made him best actor. Not enough people watched it. Your reaction was fantastic, by the way

I would recommend seeing Winter's Bone with Jennifer Lawrence. Great film and she gives a great performance. It kind of reminds me of Sling Blade, but only in an oblique way.

Excellent review of this extraordinary (beautiful and disturbing) film, @James VS Cinema. I was in a rock band with Billy Bob's brother back in the late 80s, and we were working on the soundtrack for this movie when it was still an idea in Billy Bob's head (and he was still relatively unknown). Unfortunately his brother (Jimmy) died in '88, and we never finished the soundtrack. I forgot about the film project, too, and then was surprised 8 years later to see it appearing at theaters. Carl was based on a character Billy Bob and Jimmy knew growing up. He used to do a gesture of tapping his thumb to his fingertips, but in the film they changed it to hand rubbing.

You know Dole felt a jolt of fear when Carl told him he was aimin to kill em. Trying to pretend it was an empty threat. I always thought he was just being drunk and cocky.

I’ve been suggesting this one for a few years now and I’m really happy to see this so I’m now subbed. As a boy I watched my mom get treated this way and worse by men she felt trapped by and scared of. I experienced the things this boy does so this one s really special to me. Thank you.

Jam,es, you are m,y favorite film reactor. The joy, shock, and/or admiration on your face says as much as your words.

Not bragging, just saying, I had this on VHS. I've heard of it... Thanks for the reaction, your randoms like this and "Little Miss Sunshine" are the reason I'm subscribed. Have a good one...

FINALLY!!! Someone who reacts to this masterpiece that NOONE gives any credit

Finally! So few reactors are watching this. One of my favorite movies ever.

Nearly a year later and still no one else has done a "Sling Blade" reaction.

Someone at work just talked about this movie today. Weird, huh? So I read that Billy Bob Thornton put broken glass in his shoes so he would walk like he does in this film. Can you imagine that level of commitment to a role, holy moly.

The kid actor was also a star of an underrated and forgotten TV show: American Gothic.

There's video of Bill Bob Thornton's appearance on 'Inside the Actors Studio' where he talks about the background to this film and also transforms into Karl in his chair just for a minute to demonstrate how he did it without any prosthetics or any tricks. The voice, posture and facial expression were all just him doing that with his face and his voice.

Hell yes! I've been wanting to see you react to this ever since Fargo season 1. You could put a side by side of Billy's character from this and Fargo and almost not recognize them as the same actor. He's such a good actor.

“How are you this unhinged without the internet” is the best quote I’ve heard in awhile lol

Like many other commenters, this is in my top 10 if not my top 5 favorites of all time. I’m still watching, so not sure if you’ll address these bits of trivia about a couple of the awesome actors in this brilliant flick: 1) the gay friend is played by John Ritter. I feel old even having to say this, but go do a search for “Three’s Company,” and you’ll see how well known he was. 2) the arsehole boyfriend was played by Dwight Yokum, who has been extremely well known and revered for decades in the country music industry. He’s AMAZING at being an incorrigible jerk, isn’t he? Yeah, I hated him too lol. Cheers! And now back to your reaction…

Yeah a great movies, so well made, every performance is great, including Dwight Yoakham and John Ritter. But Billy just utterly transformed himself. Not sure the symbolism means, but as Karl sees everyone at the end, their last words are all...."Karl"

This outstanding film has been unfortunately stuck in streaming service purgatory. I finally broke down and bought a dvd recently. Everyone involved, please make this masterpiece available again.

Dwight Yoakam was such a good villain in this

That score playing throughout -- not one drop of hokey, southern-fried cliche guitar signatures -- nothing but modern, ethereal synths. Thornton's work here feels fresh and devoid of Southern gothic and other tropes; He manages to forge his own story based on strong characters and a "hovering vibe" of delayed violence.

I remember this film when it came out - had to look it up - way back in 1996. It put Billy Bob on the map and the film had a lot of buzz around it. I haven't seen it since then, so I really need to watch it again with much older eyes / mind. Billy Bob won Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars for this work - richly deserved.

One of the dopest movies of all time. Our family still quotes it.

Finally someone reacts to this film

We used to imitate Karl all the time back in the 90's, good times. This film is damn near perfection.

Dense and daring are great words you used to describe this film. I love to watch people appreciate this movie, which I have seen many times, and still appreciate something new about it, every time.

This movie is SO underrated, I grew up in AL and watched it, it's a strangely accurate portrayal of life in the South. It's unpleasant if you're not the right kind of person, whether it be your sexuality, your religion, being disabled, not being white, basically anything that's 'other' isn't entirely welcome. You have to search for places and people who will accept you and it's often among the other underdogs

This came out when I was in high school and everyone walked around talking about Kaiser blades and french fried potaters mmm hmmm. There was a lot of hype about it. BBT seemed to come out of nowhere while John Ritter was killing it in a more serious role and Dwight Yokum could act! It brought back some fun memories to watch along with you.

9 months late to the party but my two cents are I love love LOVE how the story tells of a man who seemed built specifically just to save this boy. His past and horrifying experiences as a boy grew him up to be a caring, loving, empathetic man who grew up in a system that he didn't want to leave because of the complexities of the world he was living in. The sacrifice you and I would have had to make were not so bad for him as he found the black and white life living under constant supervision and structure suited him best as opposed to the freedom outside. Murdering Doyle was something he knew had to be done to save the boy and his past molded him to be capable of it. Brilliant story, amazing cinematography, and superb acting all around.

This is a movie you HAVE to watch, but you can only watch it once because it's so stark and real that it's hard to sit through. One of the scenes that is hard to watch is when he's just standing at the door and you realize he doesn't even know how to knock on a door and they released him into the world

Such a great film. More people need to discover this film.

You're one of my favorite reactors. I love how you watch the esoteric and artsy movies that I don't see elsewhere. I'd love to see your take on Ozu, Lynch, Kiarostami, Reichardt, Keaton, and even Wes Anderson.

So glad you watched Sling Blade. It's a singular film that doesn't get enough attention anymore. Great work by everyone but Billy Bob Thornton is next level in his performance and for willing this film into being.

Might be my favorite film of all time. Can't wait for you to get to One False Move (1992) - another INCREDIBLE screenplay by Billy Bob, and probably Bill Paxton's best performance IMO. Hope you're doing well James!

You unlocked a 90s indie classic. MmmmHhhmm

so glad u watched this! its so rare to see people react to it on youtube :33

Glad someone is reacting to this - not many know of it.

Billy Bob was great. I didn’t notice that the kid is the QB in Friday night lights where Billy Bob is the coach. He was like 20 by then. John did great and the country singer played a great villain.

This movie is a classic, and there's so many amazing performances. But what surprised me the most was the country music singer Dwight Yoakam was cast as the abusive boyfriend. I'm not a country music fan and not familiar with him, but I know he wasn't an actor. And to take that role as an antagonist and completely NAIL IT, was something I wasn't expecting. Everything and everyone just clicked in this movie. A classic. *Also, I gotta say that I was surprised how much credit you gave him when you mentioned the possibility of sacrificing himself to have the boyfriend arrested and locked up to protect him and his mother. When 90% of your thoughts are mostly about french fried potatoes, it's really hard scheming and being a mastermind. 😂

13:06 I did the exact same thing when I saw my mom get hit. I was maybe a little younger than him. She was in the kitchen doing dishes, trying her best to keep it together from a barrage of verbal assault. The next thing I know, she gets hit in the back of the head. I absolutely lost my shit. I don't remember much of what I was screaming at him other than "get out or I'll kill you".

Thank you for reacting to this great film.

Lucas Black was fucking great in this movie. One of the best child actor performances IMO.

Man I have been looking for a reaction to this movie! Finally! Thank you. This is brilliance on so many levels.

I thought there was a bow at the end. The outside world felt too big for Carl and he wanted to go back to the hospital like he wanted. And, of course, he helped out his friends.

lol "how is he this unhinged without the internet," got me, thats a good line

One of the best movies ever made

The interview at the beginning is almost the entirety of a short play that Thornton wrote first. That’s why he had to enter it into the Adapted Screenplay category of the Oscars instead of Original Screenplay, even though he did create the whole story. I remember a VHS of the short play got put out in video stores around the same time the movie was put out on home video, but I never rented it.

The writing for this movie rivals to kill a mockingbird in my opinion. It feels just as important as that book is. brilliant movie, one of my favorites.

Yes finally someone reacting to this movie

This is such an underrated masterpiece. More reactors need to see this.

I love that Billy Bob Thornton and John Ritter had such a close, collaborative relationship for so many years. TV work, movie work, til the rest of Ritter’s life. Very special. Plus, I think we got to see Ritter stretch in unexpected ways beyond his “Jack Tripper” persona.

I remember being 11 or 12 when the short film was released, which my parents rented from the local video store. The short film is literally the first 10 or 15 minutes of this film. So when we heard it was made into a full-length later on we rented it straight away and were all taken a-back by how good this film was. It's one of my personal favorite films. Billy Bob Thornton out-did himself here. His acting alone was amazing. To this day I don't see Billy Bob, I just see Carl.

Had pleasure Seeing it at the movies.

Truly incredible film. I am glad that this is what led to Billy Bob's place in the film industry.

I love the show. I'm so glad you reacted to it. I don't get why reactors never watch this movie. It's astounding because I believe it done quite well for a independent movie. Thanks for your reaction to this great movie.