Polaris_DiB I think that when this movie was first written and produced, it was a very interesting character study. However, now that the narrative has been expanded into a full-length movie, it works more like an extra for those interested in seeing the development of the character over time.Billy Bob Thornton's imagining of this character is honestly one of his crowning achievements as an actor and someone working in movies. Sling Blade is a modern classic, and he portrays the character so well that having an earlier short like this is nice because the audience gets a chance to spend more time with him than just the feature-length movie.However, this short isn't produced nearly as well as the movie, and that doesn't necessarily have to do with the fact that it was a smaller budget, more limited production. The acting isn't all around as well-done, even by familiar actors we've seen before. The directing is kind of sloppy and only enough visual to pull off a narrative we can get into. All in all, Billy Bob Thornton is about the only reason to watch this film.There's also a sense that, though he had written it, Thornton hadn't yet completely figured out what he wanted this character to be. Afterwards he returned, and afterwards he created Sling Blade. This short seems destined to always be overshadowed by the majesty of the later work. I can live with that.--PolarisDiB

MisterWhiplash Billy Bob Thornton proves himself to be great in this short independent picture about a killer who is released after 25 years in a mental home. This later was transformed into a longer version called Sling Blade which was released in 1993 to world-wide acclaim, but this is much better. Why, because technically, this is the beginning of the feature Sling Blade, and the beginning is the best part. Kudos to Thornton and director George Hickenlooper for creating a original short film that is as good as the hype. A+

Andro-3 I'm going to have to go out on a limb here and say that I enjoyed "Sling Blade" far more than this short, which preceded the feature film by three years. Maybe it was the snotty, hands-on-hips, childish performance by Molly Ringwald that bothered me here. Or maybe it was the horribly stereotyped view of the residents of what, in the full-length, Karl calls the "nervous hospital." Yes, the short strongly resembles the opening of the full-length film, but I think it's weaker in many ways. The cinematography is better in the feature film (and I have no problem with black and white); Molly Ringwald's performance really sours the whole 25 minutes; and left on its own, this opening really implies things I don't like. Rather than actually speculating on how Karl will deal with living unsupervised, it seems to portray all the residents of the hospital as soulless victims. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel at the end of the film. At the end of "Sling Blade," I felt I had gotten to know a man. At the end of "Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade," I just thanked my lucky stars that Billy Bob Thornton decided to direct a version of it himself.

klicker Billy Bob Thorton succeeds in creating not only a story but a character of true remark. Molly Ringwald gives a stirring portrayal of the definite cynic while the late and great JT Walsh shines as a sick rapist who doesn't understand what he's doing. Is it the system that has created such people or the people themselves? That's the question asked in the brave, "Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade."