Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade

Before Billy Bob Thornton walked off with best scribbler honors at the Oscars, he penned and starred in this film festival short which later became the first half-hour of the feature film Sling Blade. George Hickenlooper directs a somewhat pudgier Thornton as Karl Childers, a mentally disturbed man incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane for killing his mother when he was a young boy. Molly Ringwald--who did not appear in the movie version--plays the reporter who listens to Childers' chilling, quiet reprisal of his abusive childhood and murder of his mother. Today, it seems more ink is being spilt on Thornton's personal problems (the fight with Hickenlooper, the break-up of his marriage, etc.). Tawdry newspaper stories aside, the short doesn't match up to the feature film (due out in July), though film buffs will want to see. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)