Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade

Previous reviewers have commented (negatively) on Molly Ringwald's interpretation of the reporter. I have to disagree. I enjoyed it much more than the reporter in the full-length version (which is one of the greatest films of all times.) I didn't realize that the reporter was so weak in "Sling Blade" until I saw "Some Folk....". By the end of the interview with Karl, she (Ringwald) 'gets it' - she understands the horrific conditions that Karl endured, and why he did what he did, and she shows it, simply by the expressions on her face. I did not find this Karl any more menacing than the Karl of "Sling Blade" - I think it does show more the fear he has of leaving the safety and relative comfort of the hospital. Imagine how it would be if being in a hospital is a better situation than your only memories of life "outside". Long time prison inmates describe it all the time. This is a magnificent piece - where less is definitely more. I loved it.

I saw this movie when I rented a DVD that came with a lot of brief "movies" such as this. I wonder if it was done to show the head of a studio what a great feature length movie this would make. I enjoyed the short story format and was impressed with Molly Ringwold's acting.

I have mixed feelings about this short. Sling Blade is my all time favorite movie. I absolutely fell in love with it the first time I saw it and I still never tire of watching it. This, on the other hand, is an entirely different take on the Karl Childers character. While he is likeable and friendly in Sling Blade, he is intimidating and scary in "Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade". Also, I could not stand Molly Ringwold's version of the reporter. She was bitter, hateful, and downright cold while the reporter in Sling Blade has a timid, sweet manner and is kind to Karl. The ending left you with an odd feeling (yes, I know all of this was intentional) and made you wonder just WHY they were letting this menacing person out of the "nervous hospital".

This is a very well done short. The mood is dark, the setting is perfect, and Hickenlooper really seems to know what he is doing. I just wasn't too crazy about his interpretation of the story. Had I seen this before I saw the full-length version, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

The video has a really cool "behind the scenes" featurette that is a must for fans of Sling Blade.

Oh, and thank you Billy Bob, for giving us YOUR interpretation of the story and telling it the way it was meant to be told.

I guess that if you are watching this, that means that you've already watched more known movie Sling Blade. Sling Blade is actually an extended version of this short, including the life of Karl after leaving a psychiatric institution. This short movie will leave you speechless. It's dark atmosphere, dark subject that it's dealing with, together with great performances from everyone, especially Billy Bob Thornton and Molly Ringwald, makes this an unforgettable experience. If you haven't seen Sling Blade yet, I suggest you to see it first, and then to see this movie.

Overall 9/10

Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade: 5 out of 10

A curiosity piece for Sling Blade fans this short is the opening act of the original film done in black and white with Molly Ringwald as the reporter and a nebbishy mental health director.

Everything else is the same right down to J. T. Walsh's rape stories. The only real surprise is how quickly it is over. (25 brisk minutes) Unlike other viewers I really didn't notice a menacing nuance in this version. It really seemed almost note for note. One might rightly wonder why this short simply didn't appear as an extra on the Sling Blade proper disc. The included behind the scenes docs explain that pretty clearly.

The first doc is of little interest except to see J.T. Walsh chain smoke and hear director George Hickenlooper expound on how he likes short films and how European it is to make one. The second doc proves all that art for art sake stuff a lie.

Hickenlooper shows very lengthy clips from three of his features. The first Heart of Darkness a Filmmakers Apocalypse looked interesting. Even more interesting is how Hickenlooper got a directing credit even though Coppola's wife shot all the footage. The other two features the Killing Box and the Low Life look awful. The Killing box is a vampire civil war hybrid from which Hickenlooper removed the vampires and the Low Life seems like one of those self conscious auto-biographical films that comes out of Project Greenlight.

The real treat is hearing Hickenlooper completely trash his former friend Billy Bob Thorton basically describing him as an unstable maniac. Since Thorton went of to fame and fortune and Oscar gold. (Hickenlooper even attacks Billy Bob's eligibility to win an Oscar for best adapted screenplay) and Hickenlooper was not asked to direct one can only assume a little payback was in order during this "record straightening".

Even funnier Hickenlooper accuses Thorton of trying to turn the short into an audition reel (Why else would you do a short?) while in the next breath explaining he was going to use it to shop a feature film. (And all of this in one of the most self centered promotional docs I have ever seen. It's like a childhood film retrospective at a sweet sixteen party.) The whole mess is imminently skippable except for the morbidly curious.