Such a frustrating disappointment

Powerful

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This movie was so engaging and revealed the acting abilities of every one in it. I was impressed to see on of my favorite country entertainers, Dwight Yoakam, do such an excellent job in the role he played. One would have thought he was an actor with previous experience. John Ritter added a new page to his resume. I'm sad that he's no longer with us, but we have that to remind us just how good he was. Most of all, best of all, was Billy Bob Thornton. He's done such great work over time including Legal Colors. But I have to say that his performance in this film was absolutely incredible!

This film had all the potential to be one of the best of all time. But at the end it failed. Why? Because it was predictable. The first half was very emotional and substantial that it almost touched perfection. But after some part it was like you could see what is going to happen. And not only did it happen but it was almost forced by the most unnatural way. The step father was yelling to be killed like it was his intention. And honestly who ever stands so cool and self- possessed in front of his murderer who's moving towards him with a sling blade at his hands? The film itself gave me great expectations which collapsed soon. It could and should be better.

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.

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.