Toronto-based critic, lecturer, and author Adam Nayman joins us to look back at Billy Bob Thornton's directorial debut and acting showcase Sling Blade. Once considered a high-water mark of 90s American indie cinema success within popular culture and the awards circuit, Thornton's film is now often relegated to 'curio' status; a fascinating time capsule of the mid-90s with very little (if any) cultural purchase among today's cinephiles.
We discuss the work of Billy Bob Thornton, the evolution of Sling Blade (from one man show to short film to feature), and suggest some reasons for its breakout success. Then, we discuss the film's fascinating hodgepodge of elements and inspirations, combining the social economy of Southern American Gothic, the moralism of Christian parable, and formal qualities of independent cinema to make something at once distinctive and comfortably inessential. Finally, we ask if movies like Sling Blade can still gain the same level of critical and commercial cachet in today's film environment and what some of this fall's box office hits and awards front-runners might indicate about where we're headed.
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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.