Leatherheads (Widescreen)

This isn't going to be a long review. You don't have to like football to enjoy this movie, although I really do. From the first scene with a cow (that's all I'm going to say), you know this movie is going to be silly fun. It's in the spirit of John Cleese movies (the funny bantering) and O Brother where Art Thou? I didn't expect a lot of this movie when we put it in and I was happily surprised to find myself laughing though the whole movie!

Leatherheads should have been a great movie. Any time he's not being political, I love George Clooney as an actor. I'm a big fan of The Office and John Krasinski. I've had crush on Renee Zellweger since Jerry Maguire. And, I love football. So, you think a movie that has all these elements would be amazing. Unfortunately, due to spotty characterization and lack of focus, the movie ultimately fails.

Dodge Connolly (Clooney) is an aging football starts for the rag-tag, financially strapped, Duluth Bulldogs. There is no professional football league, no NFL. The team folds and Connolly has an idea. He recruits college star Carter Rutheford (Krasinski) to play for his team. This, of course draws huge crowds and the popularity of pro football grows. Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) is a Chicago Tribune who is given the assignment of finding out why Rutheford's claim to be a war hero is false.

If you've seen the previews, you'll know a love triangle developes between the three main characters. I thought this was handled incredibly poorly as I had reason to care for none of the characters. I won't go into the reasons why, but the relationship between the three main stars is what ruined the movie for me. The movie is at its best when it goes the slapstick route or features back and forth banter between Clooney, Zellweger and Krasinski. The movie fails when it does drama. And for a football movie, there isn't much football.

Overall, I was disappointed in this movie. It had all the ingredients to be a hit. But it just didn't work.

Something was missing from this film. Plenty of big stars and decent acting by the supporting cast with a fairly interesting story about the early days of pro football. Still for the most part, things fell flat. Clooney and Zellwiger just don't have the magic of the actors in the 40's and 50's. The comedy is never really that good, and the story is never that clever. If you go into the picture with your expectations low, maybe you will enjoy the film to a certain degree. I was disappointed in just about every aspect of the movie.

This was an okay, old-school comedy, with director George Clooney playing an over-the-hill roughneck 1920s football player trying how to figure out how to crack into the big leagues. Renee Zellweger plays a tough-talking "girl reporter" (ala Katherine Hepburn) who falls into a love-hate flirtation with him... The movie tries, perhaps too hard, to recreate the snappy, zinger-heavy feel of the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s and '40s, and while this film isn't quite "Dinner At Eight" or "Bringing Up Baby," it still has a nice, easygoing charm. In its hazy, golden-lit nostalgia, it also evokes '70s films such as "Paper Moon", etc., that both nod towards the past and give it a little modernistic goose. Personally, I wasn't blown away by this film, but I did appreciate what Clooney was up to, and I think he did a fairly good job making a lighthearted, un-cynical, un-violent, un-grotesque film -- a welcome break from the unending stream of brainlessness and loud noise streaming out of Hollywood these days. Worth checking out... a 3.5, perhaps? (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue film reviews)

The '08 film `Leatherheads' is a perfect example of a good concept left unrealized. Attempting to tap into the American sports psyche and our innate fondness for things nostalgic, a film about the 1920's and the birth of professional football certainly sounded like the beginnings of an entertaining storyline. Complimented by a strong cast consisting of such talents as; George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski (The Office) things appeared to be starting out on a positive note and the viewing audience had no reason to suspect anything other than success for this production.

Unfortunately from my personal perspective things simply didn't go as planned. While the film successfully captures a `20's ambiance in set design, costumes and soundtrack, the film is otherwise flat, listless and lacking in soul. There are no special memorable moments in this movie whether they be romantic, comedic, athletic or otherwise. Thus the audience is left with a rather tired, glad-the-movies-over feel.

Furthermore, the love/hate relationship between George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger doesn't work at all. There dialogue may come across as crisp and witty but there's not chemistry between them, or personal attachment in their banter. Not only that, they don't come across as particularly likeable people so the viewer doesn't really care if they eventually end up together or not. I did enjoy the performance of John Krasinski, his youthful, boyish charm provided the few bright moments in the film.

Bottom Line, `Leatherheads' is one of those inexplicable films that seemed to have all the right components that somehow just didn't come together. Who knows why?