Characters and Story
Thornton plays Karl Childers, a mentally retarded man who has been in a mental hospital for the past 25 years for murdering his mother and her lover. On the day of his release, he is interviewed by a reporter, Theresa Tatum (Molly Ringwald), who is writing her article with the intent of examining whether criminals judged to be insane should be released. Before the interview, Tatum is of the opinion that criminals like Childers should never be released. During the interview, however, Tatum must question her previous beliefs in this matter.
The title of the film comes from Childers' description of the murders. He admits to committing murder with a "kaiser blade, some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a kaiser blade".
Read more about this topic: Some Folks Call It A Sling Blade
Famous quotes containing the words characters and/or story:
“For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are slow to acknowledge that they have changed, even for the better.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)