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THE SLAUGHTER RULE Send This Review to a Friend
An American work written and directed by Andrew and Alex Smith, "The Slaughter Rule," previously showcased at the New Directors/New Films series of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and MoMA, is a very accomplished work in terms of filmmaking talent and acting. But its main characters are wracked with pain; they're hurting so much that one needs stamina to watch their lives unfold. Set in Montana, "The Slaughter Rule" gains from an exquisite job of cinematography of Eric Edwards, who integrates the Montana landscapes and rural settings with the story in ways that help give the dramatic portrayals extra credibility.
David Morse is terrific actor, and he acts his guts out as Gideon Ferguson, a football coach who lives by a macho code of physicality, but is deeply hurting for reasons that must eventually be revealed. His protege is young Roy Chutney, played with equal talent by Ryan Gosling, who is cut from his high school team and joins coach Ferguson's contingent, a six-man regional team. There are homosexual underpinnings to Ferguson's attention to Roy, whom he takes under his wing in fatherly fashion.
Ferguson is a complicated man, and Morse makes the most of the character. Gosling is a complicated youth, who has his own problems to solve. Clea Duvall has a key role as Skyla, the woman who works in a bar and with whom Roy is initiated into the ways of love and sex. But there is so much pain in "The Slaughter Rule" that the film becomes tough to endure at times, especially when violence kicks in.
Despite all the talent involved, the film leaves the impression of a work over-stuffed with angst and posturing, but one that nonetheless has its rewards along the way.
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