Patrick Sun

Leatherheads - quick review

George Clooney stars and directs this tale revolving around the beginnings of pro football in 1925. Tonally, this film never found its groove. At times, it wanted to channel the old fashion snappy reparte between possible romantic leads, Dodge (Clooney) and Lexi (Renee Zellwegger), a newspaper reporter on the trail of the real story of war hero and college football star Carter Rutherford. In other spots, the hunt for the truth about Carter just isn't all that interesting. John Krasinski plays Carter, who gets recruited to forego his final college year to play pro football with Dodge's team, the Duluth Bulldogs, and is trying to salvage pro football, the game he loves to play for a living.

There are some laughs here and there, and it's a pleasant enough movie, very light-hearted at its core, harkening back to films of yesteryear for its inspiration. Don't expect anything more.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar!"
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ChrisBEA

Re: Leatherheads - quick review

I thought the movie was a blast. I loved the old school feel and how it did not rely on the Hollywood standards for a comedy.

***.5

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Don Solosan

Re: Leatherheads - quick review

"I loved the old school feel and how it did not rely on the Hollywood standards for a comedy."

You mean the fact that there's nothing much funny in it? Yeah, that is a real breakthrough for Hollywood!

Seriously, this movie is going in three directions at once. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, there isn't enough football to be a great sports movie, and the romance is tepid at best. It is a good looking film, with good production values, etc. It's just that they couldn't decide what the real story was and stick to it.

Andy Sheets

Re: Leatherheads - quick review

I think there's a great story waiting to be told about the early days of American football, back when players literally got maimed and died on the field and there wasn't even money or social respectability at stake. Unfortunately, a screwball romantic comedy wasn't what I had in mind...