Despite Billy Bob Thornton's amazing, Oscar-nominated turn as the slightly retarded Karl, released from an institution 25 years after killing his mother and her lover, this story of his inevitable regression into violence is so heavily contrived in Thornton's own screenplay that poor Karl has as little chance of returning to society as Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates in the Psycho films. Thornton captures Karl down to the last mannerism and repeated phrase. But his direction fails to extract convincing performances from the rest of the cast, leaving the showcasing of his own portrayal in isolation.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes