Sling Blade (1996)

(On VHS, December 1999) One of the disadvantages of viewing a film on video is that contrarily to a movie seen in theatres, it has to compete with doing the dishes, cleaning up, reading a good book, etc… For most of its duration, Sling Blade fought with all the other household distractions for a share of my mindspace, and usually lost. Only in the final few minutes does the film become interesting. One could blame my usual lack of appreciation for film about mentally-challenged protagonists, or the view that the film is pretty obvious early on, then drags for a full 140 minutes… Whatever the reason, even though it possesses undeniable qualities, Sling Blade just can’t compete with household distractions. That can’t be that good, mhhhm?