That was an excellent one.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Sling Blade is a heart felt story, which follows a man who is mentally slow and is ventures in the outside world after being discharged from a mental facility. Whilst the pacing is a bit hit and miss, being slow at times and then rushing through the better parts of the film, the story is original and fresh and has plenty to offer with its 2 hour+ run time. Billy Bob Thortons performance is undeniably fantastic and he portrays the character truly well. Other actors and characters are equally played well and portrayed in a similarly good way.Overall the film is good, but slow, however, what it lacks in pace it sure makes up in the acting and originality of the script.

"Ahem Ahem" says it all. The finest ever role ever by an actor. Hats off Billy bob thorntan . Just outstanding piece of acting . One of the best acted role ever I guess. The story of a man who suffers with mental illness is depicted in a way that makes the movie out of the league. Storyline is peaceful and the character played by Billy is just amazing work. Just glue your eyes to the way he enacted the role with utter perfection.Its rare that you see such a perfection in a role which is performed with so much realism . Its a billy thorntan's movie all the way. Just watch it and watch how simplicity defines perfection. Its a excellent movie that's all I can say

After watching this movie, I just think, "wow, I'll never forget this..."You just have to see to understand. The plot is nothing riveting on paper. The merit of this movie is all about the wonderful acting performances. Besides Billy-Bob of course, I especially thought the actor who played the young boy was amazing. Ritter's portrayal of a flaming gay man is charming without being over-the-top.I can see someone disliking the movie, it is kind of slow-paced, and full of simple, unglamorous southern people living their unglamorous lives.To me this movie is about how difficult it is to live in this dangerous, complicated world with an open heart. It's about the banality of evil, and the struggle to cope with a world that's full of that evil: A world where the employer abuses the worker, then the worker comes home and beats his kid, and then the kid grows up to be someone who continues the cycle. A world where those with mental disabilities have nowhere to go, and where mothers are forced to depend on abusers to provide for themselves and their kids.Karl is supposed to be "mentally challenged" and "different", but I interpret his role as representing the inner child inside of all of us. Throughout the movie he demonstrates a simple kind of wisdom, he is the voice of common-sense. I thought the movie would be about him getting into conflicts due to misunderstanding, or people rejecting him. Instead his character behaves quite rationally, and he is adept at connecting with and winning the trust of the people around him. He acts odd but he demonstrates a level of social intelligence that many "normal" people lack. His characteristic tone of voice seems to represent someone who speaks from their gut, but is struggling and subconsciously hesitant to express themselves because they are just so full of feeling that they just shut down somewhere along the line because they had nowhere appropriate to direct and express all that emotional energy.Watching Thornton play Karl is touching because it connects you that simple, innocent, yet dangerous part of yourself. The heart of you that just wants to live life, enjoy the simple things, the part of you that dares to long for a world where children don't suffer, where there are answers and justice.

I have had this on my to-see list since Tracy the hairdresser raved about it in 1996.Well, I have certainly seen it spoofed enough. Billy Bob Thornton wrote and directed, and acted. He had a fixed, goofy expression, and said gruff sweet things in a highly southern dialect with odd grunts and non-verbal noises. I never did decide whether it was absurdly stylized, or a faithful impression of somebody he had known.Our hero had been raised in a dark shed and then had killed a mean boy when he found the boy screwing his mother. But then his mother tore into him and he killed her too. Then he spent 25 years in a nut house, but was now getting released. Everybody thought he was 'retarded'. So predictable! I knew right away he was going to kill again and promptly identified the target.To be fair, it raises some questions. The victim was the mean boyfriend of the mother of the nice boy that befriended our hero. The boy kept saying he wanted to kill the boyfriend or see him dead. The gay friend (John Ritter, doing a great job) of the woman pretty much knew what our hero planned when our hero asked for him to keep the woman overnight. But the friend didn't resist at all. And the boyfriend, while highly obnoxious, never did more than a push, and that in retaliation. The system, which had institutionalized our hero, let him out, but didn't follow up effectively.Perhaps the point was to demonstrate that for most of us, including me as it turns out, we prefer a nice killer to a dickish victim. The killing felt OK, almost brave, that he knowingly sacrificed his freedom.It had 5 stars on Netflix. And yes, it had tons of style. But so predictable! And slow! Seemed like hours! My wife fell asleep repeatedly, but had no trouble following it. I confess I found it compelling.