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

"When I Stop Dreaming"
Written by Charlie Louvin & Ira Louvin
Performed by David Morse and David Cale

User Reviews

Football as Male Life in Cold Montana

I don't usually find movies first by their soundtrack, but I first heard of "The Slaughter Rule" because Jay Farrar, of the late Uncle Tupelo, did the score and song selections, including by Vic Chestnutt, the Flatlanders, and the Pernice Brothers. So I was intrigued when I saw it was on Sundance Channel as it hadn't appeared on screens in New York.

The debut jointly written/directed feature of twin brothers Andrew and Alex Smith, the film has a lot of similarity to Tom Cruise's early "All the Right Moves," even down to charismatic young star Ryan Gosling clearly being a movie star hunk of the future.

Set in the brothers' home area of rugged (and very desolate) Montana in the fall, this film takes its working class football frame of athlete seeking father figure and coach conflict much further in examining maleness and the implications of the homo-eroticism of such sports much further.

It bravely (particularly by David Morse in a touchingly agonized performance) goes into the breach of what much discussion of current scandals has avoided, at the confused nexus of pedophilia and sexual identity, particularly for teen-age boys.

There's also a dollop of racial issues via the very realistically portrayed poverty of the Native Americans.

The women are mostly helpless within this overwhelmingly male environment, and their best choice for survival is just to leave, as unromantically satisfying as that is.

This ranks in the gritty tradition of sports movies as a setting to demonstrate social tensions like "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" than more popular fare.