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      The Slaughter Rule

      R Released Jan 8, 2003 1 hr. 59 min. Drama List
      74% 31 Reviews Tomatometer 43% 500+ Ratings Audience Score Roy (Ryan Gosling) 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. Enter Gideon (David Morse), 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. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Dec 05 Buy Now

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      The Slaughter Rule

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      Critics Consensus

      A bleak but original indie, The Slaughter Rule benefits from outstanding performances by Ryan Gosling and David Morse.

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      Audience Reviews

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      steve d Doesn't do anything interesting despite the strong cast. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A gritty, realistic drama. Great acting by the lead characters. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review renaldo d I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it either. There are scenes in the film that are horrible Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Loved loved loved this film & it only improves through further scrutiny! Perfection delivered by Morse bringing out his characters brooding misunderstood pent up self loathing in the most tender & eloquent of ways. A must see! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/19 Full Review Audience Member Review: Starring a young looking Ryan Gosling, Drive To Dream (The Slaughter Rule), is about a young inspiring American football player who gets cut from his team because his coach thinks that he hasn't got enough anger in his heart. With nothing to do in his small Montana town, he falls for a young girl who shows up at his dads funeral and he starts playing football for a man that he meets in a diner (David Morse). Whilst training with his new team, Roy Chutney (Gosling) starts to hear rumours about Gideon's (Morse) past which questions there close friendship. His relationship with Skyla (Clea Duvall) is also under pressure because she doesn't really feel love from the troubled teenager. After a few games on the road, the team doesn't really progress into anything special because they don't really gel together that well and there coach (Morse) has his own personal demons to deal with. I quite enjoyed this emotional drama which was made with a small budget, before Rosling became the mega-star that he is today. His distant acting style worked well with this role and David Morse was brilliant as his father figure/coach but it does seem like it was made for TV. Its always good to see these massive Hollywood stars older movies to see if they can actually act, which Gosling proved that he can. His style hasn't changed that much but he has covered many other genres since this film. Its a watchable movie which does have different elements to keep the movie interesting but it's very one toned without that much substance. Its worth a watch just to see Gosling at a young age but from a entertaining prospective, it's very average. Round-Up: This movie was made when Gosling, 34, had just starred in Remember the Titans, which was a small role and the Believer which didn't go down well with audiences. He really became a household name after starring in the Notebook, which became a worldwide hit. Since then, he has starred in some decent movies like Stay, Fracture, Half Nelson, Blue Valentine and Drive. He then turned to comedy in Crazy, Stupid Love, were he showed off his impressive abs and became the love of women all around the world and then he went back to his usual moody movies in the Place Beyond the Pines, Gangster Squad and the weird Only God Forgives. He has chosen to stay out of the limelight for a while but he will be coming back soon in movies like the Bladerunner remake, the Haunted Mansion, the Big Short starring Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Steve Carrell and the Nice Guys with Russell Crowe. This film was directed by Alex & Andrew Smith who have only made a couple of shorts before making this small movie. They really did get the most out of Gosling & Morse in this emotional drama and you can tell that they relied on the script more than fancy shots and extravagant scenery. This isn't a feel good movie and there are some depressing scenes but the actors did give it there all and it's good to see how far Gosling has come. Budget: $500,000 Worldwide Gross: N/A I recommend this movie to people who are into their emotional dramas about a promising teenage football player who gets dropped from his team and plays in a small league in his town, with his father figure coach. 4/10 Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Truthfully this didn't hold my interest, I watched about half of it, 08.13 "After he is cut from his high-school football team, a teen (Ryan Gosling) joins a local squad organized by a stranger (David Morse) who forms a bond with his student." Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Slaughter Rule

      The Slaughter Rule (2002) The Slaughter Rule (2002) The Slaughter Rule (2002) The Slaughter Rule (2002) (left to right) Ryan Gosling and David Morse in THE SLAUGHTER RULE, a film by Alex and Andrew J. Smith. View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (31) Critics Reviews
      David Ansen Newsweek The movie has a bred-in-the-bone sense of place, and a willingness to take big emotional risks. Mar 7, 2018 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle The writing and directing team of twin brothers Alex and Andrew Smith have made an astonishingly good first feature. Feb 16, 2011 Full Review Bilge Ebiri New York Magazine/Vulture Having made his name as a ferocious, self-hating Jewish skinhead in The Believer, 22-year-old Ryan Gosling gives another memorable performance as a lonely, world-hating fatherless quarterback in The Slaughter Rule. Feb 16, 2011 Full Review Total Film [Gosling] once again shows how magnetic he can be in challenging roles. Feb 16, 2011 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Gosling and Morse give strong performances in this bitter pill movie. Rated: 3/5 Oct 10, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Oct 8, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Roy (Ryan Gosling) 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. Enter Gideon (David Morse), 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.
      Director
      Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith
      Executive Producer
      David O. Russell
      Screenwriter
      Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith
      Distributor
      Cowboy Pictures
      Production Co
      Samuel Goldwyn Production
      Rating
      R (Language|Sexual Content)
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jan 8, 2003, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jul 26, 2016
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $13.1K
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