Billy Bob Thornton's Lost Movie (1 Viewer)

[Jon Sheedy]

I remember first hearing about this film years ago, and being really excited about it. It was BB's first post-Sling Blade directing gig and featured an interesting cast (Thornton, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Andy Griffith, Kelly Preston, Jim Varney, Ben Affleck, Jamie Curtis) and story:

Plot synopsis...When an Uncle (Jim Varney) is charged with murder, the event reverberates throughout a poor Arkansas family, including a struggling musician (Thornton) and his wife (Dern), her mother (Ladd), her sister (Preston), and his father (Andy Griffith).

The film was completed yet never released theatrically. apparently there were issues between the director and studio....the film sat on the shelf for years.

I vaguely recall that the problems with Daddy and Them were somehow related to the difficulties the director had with Miramax/Weinstein when he was making All The Pretty Horses...but I either I never really knew what they were or I've forgotten what they were. Anyone have more details on exactly what specific issues caused this film to languish for so many years? Ever seen the picture?

Looking forward to picking this one up on DVD...being released next Tuesday the 13th.

 

[Joey Skinner]

Have you looked it up on imdb.com? Apparently it was on Showtime last year and got great user reviews. I had never heard of it but it looks interesting; I'm a big Thornton fan. I'm going right now to see if it is on Netflix.

 

[Brad M]

Interesting that you brought this up. I remember years ago one of the guys I worked with saying he had got to be in a scene in this movie. My employment at that place came to a sudden end right after that and have not thought about it since. I remember him saying that Jim Varney was a real quiet guy and that Andy Griffth was great. If anyone knows if it's out on dvd please let us know.

 

[Anthony Clifton]

Isn't this the one that has John Prine in it? I've been wanting to see it for that reason alone.

 

[Rocky F]

Yeah, I remember when they were filming it here in Little Rock, so I've been curious about it too (Much of Sling Blade was filmed just blocks from my house, not important to the discusssion, just something I enjoy pointing out.) I don't have Showtime, so I don't usually pay attention to what's on it. Good to hear it's coming out.

 

[Joey Skinner]

John Prine is in this movie but I don't see his name in the music credits. Here is a link for info:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166158/

As Jon said the release date is the 13th.