Eye Candy #358 - "Sling Blade"

Sling Blade:  Billy Bob Thornton's performance in this movie quite simply blew me out of the water. I had seen Thornton before in bit parts in "Tombstone" and "One False Move", playing sort of loutish, ignorant Southern goons, but his complete transformation into the simpleton man-child Karl Childers was so complete, so convincing, that he has not had a better part before or since. But it's not just Thornton that makes this film - he's surrounded by an exceedingly competent cast including John Ritter (playing way against type), Lucas Black, JT Walsh (in a small over-the-top creepy bit), and Dwight Yoakum in a performance as bravura as Thornton's as an abusive stepfather who dislikes midgets and antique furniture (yes, you read that right). It's the story of a mentally-retarded man released from the mental hospital he has been incarcerated in since he was a child and his successes and ultimately failures at blending back into society. I do believe that Thornton was robbed of this Oscar this year (it went to Geoffrey Rush, and I thought Thornton's performance and this film in general was much stronger than "Shine")