There's no wonder why Billy Bob Thornton won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Karl in Sling Blade. He does an absolutely superb job the whole way. He creates sympathy towards the character and also creates the character, making Karl a mentally retarded but still capable and humorous man.

Basically, the story is that Karl is set free and must finally handle things on his own, and he meets a loving family who just happens to have an abusive member in it.

Billy Bob Thornton not only starred but he wrote and directed this piece as well. The script is well done and mixes humor and drama. A lot of the characters are funny, including Karl. The movie does have a low budget feel to it but that's all for the better because the setting is sort of an out of time town in the south.

Sling Blade is a great movie. It has comedy but it also has drama, and it has an award-winning performance from Billy Bob Thornton. The ending is good as well.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.