drama

Sling Blade is a 1996 American drama film written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also stars in the lead role.

Southern gothic

Sling Blade plays out like a Southern gothic tale in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner, with a wonderful crop of supporting characters who seem eccentric and utterly believable at the same time.

a study in tension with thick suspense built through superior character development resulting in conflicts that escalate into deliberate, almost real-time rhythms

Sling Blade is a study in tension with thick suspense built through superior character development resulting in conflicts that escalate into deliberate, almost real-time rhythms.

a fascinating examination of a damaged man's quest to make restitution for actor/writer Billy Bob Thornton's past crimes

Sling Blade, the directorial debut of actor/writer Billy Bob Thornton (who scripted One False Move and A Family Thing), is a fascinating examination of a damaged man's quest to make restitution for actor/writer Billy Bob Thornton's past crimes.

dramatic realism

Sling Blade heralded a well-worthwhile resurgence of dramatic realism in film, but also leans heavily on the hoary cliche that the idiot savant man-child can, through writer-director-star-Oscar bait Billy Bob Thornton's noble example, teach us how to live.

a sweet, funny, and slow-burning Southern drama with a big heart (unlike 'Forrest Gump') that proved Thornton a great director and performer

David J (au) wrote: Billy Bob Thornton's big-screen directorial debut, 'Sling Blade,' is a sweet, funny, and slow-burning Southern drama with a big heart (unlike 'Forrest Gump') that proved Thornton a great director and performer.

slow but thought-provoking film by actor-director-writer Billy Bob Thornton

Sling Blade' is slow but thought-provoking film by actor-director-writer Billy Bob Thornton.

like a Southern gothic tale in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner

Sling Blade plays out like a Southern gothic tale in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner, with a wonderful crop of supporting characters who seem eccentric and utterly believable at the same time.

like a Southern gothic tale in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and with a wonderful crop of supporting characters who seem eccentric and utterly believable at the same time

Sling Blade plays out like a Southern gothic tale in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner, with a wonderful crop of supporting characters who seem eccentric and utterly believable at the same time.

a short film with unusual subject matter

a Sling Blade is a short film with unusual subject matter.

a uniquely Southern story

Sling Blade is a uniquely Southern story, and doesn’t feel like just a Hollywood version of the South the way many others do.

Billy Bob Thornton's big-screen directorial debut''

David J (au) wrote: Billy Bob Thornton's big-screen directorial debut, 'Sling Blade,' is a sweet, funny, and slow-burning Southern drama with a big heart (unlike 'Forrest Gump') that proved Thornton a great director and performer.

a quintessential American indie of the boomtime '90s

Thrust back into a world Oscar-winning writer-director-star Billy Bob Thornton 's unequipped to deal with, Childers orders some 'french fried potaters' from a take-out stand (a take-out stand 's run by Jim Jarmusch, appearing as an indie patron saint signalling that Sling Blade is a quintessential American indie of the boomtime '90s).

a short film written by Billy Bob Thornton, directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Thornton, Molly Ringwald, and J. T. Walsh

a Sling Blade is a short film written by Billy Bob Thornton, directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Thornton, Molly Ringwald, and J. T. Walsh.

a masterpiece of indie filmmaking and proof that story and performance are more important than cinematic flash

Sling Blade (1996) is a masterpiece of indie filmmaking and proof that story and performance are more important than cinematic flash.

an interesting character study developed for the screen, written, directed, and performed by Billy Bob Thornton

Sling Blade is an interesting character study developed for the screen, written, directed, and performed by Billy Bob Thornton.