Sling Blade is a 1996 American drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 set in rural Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...

, who also stars in the lead role. It tells the story of a mentally impaired

Mental retardation

Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...

 man named Karl Childers who is released from a psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

, where he has lived since killing his mother and her lover when he was 12 years old, and the friendship he develops with a young boy. In addition to Thornton, it stars Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...

, J. T. Walsh

J. T. Walsh

James Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh was an American character actor. He appeared in many well-known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street, Breakdown, and Good Morning, Vietnam.Walsh was known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs"...

, John Ritter

John Ritter

Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...

, Lucas Black

Lucas Black

Lucas York Black is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the CBS television series American Gothic as well as roles in films such as Sling Blade, Jarhead, Friday Night Lights, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Legion, Get Low, and All the Pretty Horses.-Personal...

, Natalie Canerday

Natalie Canerday

Natalie Suzanne Canerday is an American actress.Canerday is a native of Russellville, Arkansas. After attending Hendrix College , she began her motion picture career as a production secretary for the television feature The Tuskegee Airmen, then made minor appearances in films such as...

, James Hampton

James Hampton (actor)

James Wade Hampton is an American actor, television director, and screenwriter.-Early life:Though born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Hampton was reared in Dallas, Texas, where his father operated a cleaning business. He majored in theatre arts at the University of North Texas in Denton...

, and Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

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The movie was adapted by Thornton from his short film and previous screenplay, Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade

Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade

"Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade" is a short film directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Molly Ringwald, and J. T. Walsh...

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