Friends. Can't Live With 'Em. Can't Live Without 'Em.
(Copyright, Sole471, 2006)
Don't have much on my mind today. Other than getting out and gardening some. Or, God help me, getting out, in ever renewable faith that I can actually play the game of golf.
Did have this though. A friend of mine with literary aspirations, and who doesn't have literary aspirations these days, ran this by me.
I'll be honest. I don't know what to make of it. I mean, he tries. But. Well. Let me put it this way. As another friend, trying to be kind said of some acquaintances: They mean well, but they're still assholes.
Anyway, here's what he had to share:
MY MOVIE REVIEW OF THE SLING BLADE MOVIE
Sling Blade, by the hot new young talent, Billy Bob Thornton is a very thought provoking and even heart warming movie.
It is about Carl, who is retarded (should I use another word?). He has just been released from the ‘nervous’ hospital, where he has been in, incar, incarcer, held for many years.
He killed a couple of folks, one his mother, but now they think he is okay to go.
So. He goes. Out into the World. And this is what Mr. Bob Thornton sensitively portrays, his simple heart rending adventures out in the “World”.
And many adventures he has.
He meets a little boy and they become friends. The little boy is the same kid that was in one of them Kevin Costner movies.
He gets a job at a shop fixing engines and the like. He lives at the shop, but then the boy, Frank, invites him to live in his garage and his Mom says okay.
His Mom is nice. And works in a store managed by John Ritter, who was Tex Ritter’s son and is gay in the movie. A very sensitively wrought gay portrayal.
But things are not all roses for Carl and Frank. Frank’s mom has an evil boyfriend, finely portrayed by famous country singer Dwight Yoakam.
The evil boyfriend drinks the beer and says nasty things. Sometimes he throws things and gets kind of violent, being mean to Frank, his Mom, his drinking buddies, one in a wheel chair.
And. And this is important. He is mean to Carl. Also the gay dude too. But the gay dude has not killed his mother before I don’t think.
So there is tension. Even sometimes you wonder is Carl really all right and will, maybe, he go like ape shit or something.
As I said, Carl and Frank are friends. And this simple relationship, so elemental, so natural, a young child and a retard. And yet, and maybe not ironically, they come up with many gems of philosophy about life and stuff.
Carl gets along well with the people at the garage and they buy him lunch and he is particularly fond of french fries. Later he gets Frank’s mom to make him biscuits which he is also fond of.
One scene is neat. They have the John Ritter gay character have dinner at his house, for Frank and his mom. And they bring Carl along and a slow, fat girl for Carl to maybe get together with. Carl and the fat girl go for a walk. And John Ritter tells everyone at the dinner that he loves them.
Then trouble happens. The evil boyfriend decides to move in permanent. And he immediately is nasty to Frank and Carl, kicking Carl out and telling Frank to stay out of his way.
Carl then goes over to the gay dude’s house and tells him he has a bad feeling and to go get Frank and his mom and have them spend the night at his house.
In a searing and learningful scene, Carl says to the gay fella that even though the Bible says it’s bad, he thinks he’s okay even though gay and maybe even ought to take care of Frank and his mom.
We all learn from this poignant moment. Then Carl goes over and whacks the evil boyfriend in the head with a freshly sharpened lawn mower blade.
Also Carl visits his Dad, refraining from killing him, in another moment of learning and stuff, and then gets baptized.
I highly recommend this movie. The whole family can learn from this film, even though it may be real and have ‘rough stuff’.
The only thing I would suggest is talk afterward with your slower children about proper and improper use of lawn mower blades.
Sling Blade, by the hot new young talent, Billy Bob Thornton is a very thought provoking and even heart warming movie.
It is about Carl, who is retarded (should I use another word?). He has just been released from the ‘nervous’ hospital, where he has been in, incar, incarcer, held for many years.
He killed a couple of folks, one his mother, but now they think he is okay to go.
So. He goes. Out into the World. And this is what Mr. Bob Thornton sensitively portrays, his simple heart rending adventures out in the “World”.
And many adventures he has.
He meets a little boy and they become friends. The little boy is the same kid that was in one of them Kevin Costner movies.
He gets a job at a shop fixing engines and the like. He lives at the shop, but then the boy, Frank, invites him to live in his garage and his Mom says okay.
His Mom is nice. And works in a store managed by John Ritter, who was Tex Ritter’s son and is gay in the movie. A very sensitively wrought gay portrayal.
But things are not all roses for Carl and Frank. Frank’s mom has an evil boyfriend, finely portrayed by famous country singer Dwight Yoakam.
The evil boyfriend drinks the beer and says nasty things. Sometimes he throws things and gets kind of violent, being mean to Frank, his Mom, his drinking buddies, one in a wheel chair.
And. And this is important. He is mean to Carl. Also the gay dude too. But the gay dude has not killed his mother before I don’t think.
So there is tension. Even sometimes you wonder is Carl really all right and will, maybe, he go like ape shit or something.
As I said, Carl and Frank are friends. And this simple relationship, so elemental, so natural, a young child and a retard. And yet, and maybe not ironically, they come up with many gems of philosophy about life and stuff.
Carl gets along well with the people at the garage and they buy him lunch and he is particularly fond of french fries. Later he gets Frank’s mom to make him biscuits which he is also fond of.
One scene is neat. They have the John Ritter gay character have dinner at his house, for Frank and his mom. And they bring Carl along and a slow, fat girl for Carl to maybe get together with. Carl and the fat girl go for a walk. And John Ritter tells everyone at the dinner that he loves them.
Then trouble happens. The evil boyfriend decides to move in permanent. And he immediately is nasty to Frank and Carl, kicking Carl out and telling Frank to stay out of his way.
Carl then goes over to the gay dude’s house and tells him he has a bad feeling and to go get Frank and his mom and have them spend the night at his house.
In a searing and learningful scene, Carl says to the gay fella that even though the Bible says it’s bad, he thinks he’s okay even though gay and maybe even ought to take care of Frank and his mom.
We all learn from this poignant moment. Then Carl goes over and whacks the evil boyfriend in the head with a freshly sharpened lawn mower blade.
Also Carl visits his Dad, refraining from killing him, in another moment of learning and stuff, and then gets baptized.
I highly recommend this movie. The whole family can learn from this film, even though it may be real and have ‘rough stuff’.
The only thing I would suggest is talk afterward with your slower children about proper and improper use of lawn mower blades.
posted by I. Myte @ 2:39 PM
1 comments
