History Film / SlingBlade

* JerkAss: No doubt, Doyle Hargraves himself. His Crowning Moment of Jerkass mixed with (only one of) his personal Moral Event Horizons is when he [[spoiler: brutally ejects his band from his house and threatens Linda and Frank]].

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Books, all of which he gives to Frank before he leaves. Literature/AChristmasCarol has a carefully lettered bookmark in it reading "[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming You Will Be Happy]]," [[GenreSavvy eliciting an]] OhCrap moment from Frank as he realizes that Karl knows the only way Frank can be truly happy is if [[KarmicDeath Doyle is dead]]]].

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Poor Frank; Karen Cross (only shown in the extended version) just shot him right down. Gender-flipped and somewhat averted with Karl and his would-be girlfriend, Melinda: Karl: [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "Flowers is purty."]] [[spoiler: Of course it doesn't go anywhere because shortly afterwards, the rest of the story happens...]]

* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Very much averted. The film frequently shows how Karl not only lacks basic social skills but is almost incapable of caring for himself. He also never displays any [[TheRainman Rain Man]] type abilities aside from being an excellent mechanic. Some characters, such as Vaughan, seem to view him as deep and wise, likely to lampshade this trope.

* HeroicSacrifice: Although Karl Childers didn't die he, sacrificed his freedom, by doing Doyle in, to help Linda,and Frank to live a better life without being pushed around. In the end he's back where he started in the mental institution.

* MeaningfulEcho: "Karl?" All four times spoken by [[spoiler: characters seeing him for the last time. [[KarmicDeath The fourth, chillingly so]]]].

* StraightGay: Vaughan, played by the late Creator/JohnRitter, [[ActorAllusion who]] once played [[ThreesCompany a man acting like he was gay]]. Averted with [[CampGay Albert Sellers]], who despite having only a couple of lines, surely shows his personality.

* EverybodyKnewAlready: Vaughan wants his homosexuality kept quiet amongst his friends, but they tell him practically the whole town knows already.

-->''"Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser blade."''
--->'''Karl Childers'''

!!Provides Examples Of:

* StraightGay: Vaughan, played by the late JohnRitter, [[ActorAllusion who]] once played [[ThreesCompany a man acting like he was gay]]. Averted with [[CampGay Albert Sellers]], who despite having only a couple of lines, surely shows his personality.

* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding:]] [[spoiler: Sure, the horribly abusive monster is out of our protagonists' lives for good, but Karl is, again, locked up in the state hospital. At least he [[TookALevelInBadass can now stand up for himself]] against the pervert Charles Bushman.]]
* [[spoiler: BloodlessCarnage]]: [[spoiler: You'd think with the force Karl uses with that blade there'd be a little splatter or at least a little on his hand, but there's none.]]

* [[spoiler: DropTheHammer]]: [[spoiler: Karl sure does want to, right on Doyle's head, but he had horrible timing. He changed his pre-emptive strike into the BLAM mentioned in YMMV.]]

* [[spoiler: HopeSpot]]: [[spoiler: Near the end of the movie: about three or four minutes are spent with no dialog, simply Karl walking around contemplating the situation: he knows if he goes through with it, he'll at the very least be put in jail, but standing at Doyle's house he decides it's in Frank and Linda's best interest. The extended version draws this out by about a minute, to very tense effect.]]

A 1996 drama directed, written and starring Billy Bob Thornton, based on a short film called "Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade," in which he also starred.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:That Doyle.]]

* EnforcedMethodActing: Minor but humorous: Lucas Black didn't know Karl was going to ad-lib a certain line about potted meat, and genuinely laughed as a result; the effect was still good.

* SeeminglyProfoundFool: Karl is seen as wise by Vaughan and a few others, but he's really just simple (and single) minded. Also {{Subverted}} a few times when Karl shows surprising wisdom, even moving Vaughan to tears at the end.

The story's about a mentally challenged man named Karl Childers who, around the age of 12, butchered his mother and her lover with the titular sling blade, because he had always learned from his parents that having sex was wrong (a detail shown [[AllThereInTheManual in the script and seen in the short film]]. He was put up in a state mental hospital in Arkansas; our observation of Karl begins 25 years later, when he's about to be released.