Sling Blade/YMMV
- Non Sequitur Scene: Karl's baptism.
- Complete Monster: Averted with Doyle, perhaps; he's mean with a very much hidden gentle streak, which is nonetheless completely obscured by his Jerkass-ity.
- Played straight by J. T. Walsh's character, Charles, in the Book Ends in the State Hospital.
- Played straight and discussed in the case of Frank, Karl's father: Karl even admits he studied on killing him, but figured he wasn't worth the trouble.
- Crowning Moment of Awesome: "Mister, don't you never lay another hand on that boy, you understand me?" Also, Frank snaps and throws everything he can reach when Doyle crosses his Moral Event Horizon.
- Crowning Music of Awesome: Pretty much all of Daniel Lanois' score. Also a well-placed country ballad when Karl and Melinda are on their 'date' and she brings him flowers.
- Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: As Karl prepares to leave, he sits by the lake with his new best friend, the boy Frank. Karl gingerly puts his arm around Frank and says, "I love you, boy." Not a dry eye in my head when I first saw it.
- Also, after Karl revisits his home and gives a Reason You Suck Speech to his senile/insane old father, he visits the gravesite he created so long ago for his premature little brother and honors him briefly... "Little feller."
- Karl proclaims that he'd never hurt Linda or Karl, and would lay his hand on the Bible and say the same thing.
- Hollywood Homely: Billy Bob Thornton was told by Billy Wilder that he was too ugly to be an actor and should write a screenplay to exploit his features
- Moral Event Horizon: Doyle's may be when he flings poor Terrence in his wheelchair against the screen door in the act of kicking his band out.
- Frank Childers' was carried out long before the events of the movie, as related by Karl: he expected Karl to dispose of his premature little brother as though he were trash; the follow-through to this unseen event is shown in the Crowning Moment of Heartwarming above.
- The Woobie: Frankie. He is consistently oppressed by his mother's boyfriend, as well as constantly being turned down by his crush Karen Cross. He does get his share of hugs, but don't you feel like you need to give him one more?
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