The Slaughter Rule (2002)

A young man finds solace with a young woman, his mother, and a high-school football coach who recruits him to quarterback a six-man team.

Directors:

Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith

Writers:

Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith

Stars:

Ryan Gosling, David Morse, Clea DuVall

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Gosling	...	Roy Chutney
David Morse	...	Gideon 'Gid' Ferguson
Clea DuVall	...	Skyla Sisco
David Cale	...	Floyd aka Studebaker
Eddie Spears	...	Tracy Two Dogs
Kelly Lynch	...	Evangeline Chutney
Amy Adams	...	Doreen
Ken White	...	Russ Colfax
Noah Watts	...	Waylon Walks Along
Kim DeLong	...	Lem Axelrod
Geraldine Keams	...	Gretchen Two Dogs
Douglas Seybern	...	Uncle Peyton
Cody Harvey	...	Coach Motlow
Melkon Andonian	...	Devo
J.P. Gabriel	...	Jute

Storyline

Roy gets cut from his high school football team just days after his estranged father dies. For him, football is more than a proving ground; it is a promised escape from his lonely rural existence and salvation from the paralyzing passivity that dominates his life. Enter Gideon, a loner living on the roughneck fringe who is looking for gamers--kids who scrap hard--to play on his six-man football squad. Roy joins the Renegades, and he and Gideon enter into tenuous friendship that pushes the limits of male bonding.

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Plot Keywords:

football coach | rancher | rancher's son | coming of age | native american | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Ranchwater Productions [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

O kanonas tis sfagis

Filming Locations:

Centerville, Montana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,461 (USA) (10 January 2003)

Gross:

$13,134 (USA) (28 March 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Solaris

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some of the songs referenced by Gid and/or Floyd throughout the movie include

• "Ragged But Right" by Riley Puckett 1934
• "Nothing But Trouble" by Lonnie Johnson 1929
• "Cash On The Barrelhead" by The Louvin Brothers 1954
• "Rank Stranger" by Albert E. Brumley 1954
• "Will Jesus Wash The Bloodstains From Your Hands?" by Hazel Dickens 1964
• "Straighten Up And Fly Right" by The Nat King Cole Trio 1949
• "Wayfaring Pilgrim" by Almeda Riddle 1932

Gid also references "Drifting Too Far From The Shore" and "Going Back To Jericho" during the ice fishing scene but he doesn't state an artist or year. There is a deleted scene in which Floyd references "I Ain't Drunk, I Am Just Drinkng" by Jimmy Liggins but Gid interrupts him before he can state the year.

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Connections

Featured in The 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Warrior Song"
Songmaker: Duran Bear Medicine
Performed by Young Grey Horse Singers

User Reviews

Underrated Effort

As a subscriber to Sundance Channel, I am intrigued by recurrent programming patterns in the films shown. Recently, for example, there has been a spate of male-oriented psycho-sexual dramas that go deeply into themes usually represented in mainstream cinema as subconscious or accidental phenomena.

In The Slaughter Rule as well as other recent offerings like L.I.E. or Priest or Taboo (originally Gohatto), characters reveal emotions that seem designed specifically to break new ground in the amorphic area between ordinary storytelling and what some would call pornography. The common word to describe this is "disturbing." But just as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Midnight Cowboy, and Harold and Maude opened people's eyes in the 60's and 70's to the possibilities of "disturbing" cinema as literature, these new films may lead in my view to an entirely new public attitude about the inherent validity of the effort.

To be sure, The Slaughter Rule is a flawed film. So are many others of its kind to date. Its premise, however, is sound. One can nitpick about cinematic values, geographical anomalies, or plot distractions, etc., but to be able to see disparate fictional characters get under each other's skin is what makes any drama come to life. Added to that in this case is a very competent job of producing, directing, and editing. Moreover, no one can quarrel with the acting performance of David Morse.

Coming to grips with overtly sexual themes in films -- particularly those that deal seriously with "disturbing" but very real kinds of human emotions -- is a challenging task not only for moviemakers like the Smiths, but also for viewers. I give this movie an "E" for effort and a solid 9 out of 10 for everything else.