Sling Blade

by Billy Bob Thornton

Book Overview

'Sling Blade won the 1997 Academy Award for best original screenplay. Karl has just been released from an asylum some twenty-five years after he committed a gruesome murder, returns to the town of his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786882506
• ISBN13: 9780786882502
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Miramax Books
• Length: 165 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great screenplay

Sling Blade is my favorite movie of all time. Even the smallest characters are so unforgettable. I've probably read this script as many times as I've seen the movie. I like that there were a few parts in the script that the movie left out. After reading this repeatedly, I realize that the movie was better off without the scenes, but there is some pretty funny dialogue concerning Doyle's friend, Randy Horsefeathers, who claims to be half-Indian. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see the movie) There is also a pretty touching part (in the book) where Frank and Karl go to visit the girl who Frank has a crush on. It's a very emotional part of the story, but I'm glad that the scene didn't make it into the film. In the movie, the girl is mentioned and left at that. The filmed version would have thrown the film off balance, but it looks great on paper. If you loved this movie, do yourself a favor and get the book. It's a must have for any fan and it can be read in a sitting.

"A nice home fried tater."

There are shooting scripts and there are screenplays. If you want to know more about a movie, if there's a shooting script, that's probably your best bet. If you just want the dialogue to a film, then you probably want to read the screenplay. Miramax doesn't publish shooting scripts as far as I know, so you're stuck with what they do publish. Often times, a screenplay doesn't live up to the film it's words are taken from. Fortunately, that is not the case here. This is an excellent screenplay with all the dialogue from the movie and just a tad bit more. If you've never seen the movie, this is a time when reading the screenplay before hand might be worth your while. There is a lot of great dialogue here and reading it on the page takes nothing away from the action you will see on the screen.

A must have for any Billy Bob fan

This book follows the movie pretty much word for word. I like having things in print--I love this screenplay and if you like the movie, you'll love it too.

Convinced me to see the film

I had the heard the movie was good, but one hears that about lots of movies. I ran into the screenplay at a bookstore. Now, how often does the average person buy screenplays? But I picked it up and began to read, and decided to buy. Within the next few hours the screenplay clinched my decision to see the film. The writing for the film deserved the Oscar and this screenplay deserves to be read on its own.

Some folks call it a Sling Blade- I Call it a Masterpiece

The film and the screenplay rock! I have never seen a better, darker, and more insightful independant film than "Sling Blade". For all of us film buffs out there, this screenplay is a great investment. It is really neat to read a screenplay because there may be a few scenes that were cut out of the final product, as in "Sling Blade". I recommend this masterpiece to anyone who appreciates good screenwriting and good filmmaking. Thanks, Billy Bob!