 Leatherheads  Studio: Universal Original Release: 2008 Length: 1 hour 54 mins Genre: Period Football Comedy/Screwball Romantic Comedy Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Color/B&W: Color Audio: |
Release Date: September 23, 2008 Rating: 2 ½  ½Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zelwegger, John Krasinski, Jonathan Pryce Written by: Duncan Brantley & Rick Reilly Directed by: George Clooney Leatherheads is an example of what can happen when ambition exceeds possibility. As conceived, the film was originally designed as a historical depiction of the beginning of professional football in the United States – showing the transition that happened when marquee players from the more popular college football began to be recruited onto the professional teams. George Clooney read this script and proceeded to rewrite it into a screwball comedy and went on to execute that idea. The film thus was designed to be both an earnest examination of football history and a rapid-fire comedy, with a love story thrown in to boot. The problem, of course, is that there is simply too much on the plate for the film to handle. At nearly 2 hours, the length is simply too long to be an effective short-burst comedy. But at the same time, the comic moments feel forced much of the time – Clooney and his cast are trying so hard to find the funny that it unfortunately eludes them much of the time. But it’s not for lack of effort. At the same time, I must acknowledge this is not the disaster that early reviews descriped. It’s actually an affectionate look at a moment for football in the 1920’s, grounded in some lovely period costumes and production design, as well as a bouncy score by Randy Newman. And it has moments that do work, if only intermittently. But it’s not the classic look at early football that the original writers intended, nor is it the screwball romance that Clooney attempted. We can see it as a learning exercise, if anything. And there is certainly some value there. Leatherheads did not live up to expectations when it was released, but it is certainly getting a decent treatment on DVD. This DVD is loaded with special features, and a Blu-ray edition was released day and date with this standard definition version. The only drawback is that the biggest story of the production has been unfortunately omitted from the materials here – which may lead to viewers not completely understanding the content of the audio commentary or why the film went astray.  VIDEO QUALITY: 3 ½/5 ½ Leatherheads has a solid anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer going for it. Details throughout are quite sharp, and the various costumes and uniforms are highlighted quite nicely. Black levels look good, and the various flesh tones look accurate. The difference between the actual football uniform colors and their condition after a good dousing in mud is just one example of the quality of the transfer here. AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5 Leatherheads is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English, Spanish and French. Much of the mix and the music live in the front channels, but some atmospheric sounds make their way to the surrounds, including crowd noise during the various football games played during the game. The dialogue is clear and fairly easy to understand. SPECIAL FEATURES: 3/5 Leatherheads comes with a director/producer commentary, deleted scenes and four featurettes discussing the process of making the film. There’s a bounty of interview material here with all the principle actors, but one major part of the story is unfortunately left untold here, which leads the whole enterprise feeling a little short of the goal.
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