The Slaughter Rule (2002)

The Slaughter Rule (2002) is a football drama about a young man who finds peace with a young woman, his mother and a high-school football coach who recruits him to quarterback a six-man team that competes for money. It stars Ryan Gosling as the young man and David Morse as the coach. The movie throws you a lot of curve balls, if we can mix our metaphors here, in that Morse sings country in a sweet voice unlike his bulky figure would suggest and the needs of gay homeless is high on the agenda of the film. Maybe that’s why it steers almost entirely clear of female nudity, except for the peek at Kelly Lynch’s butt-crack. It’s not much, but we’ll take it.