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
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