"Leatherheads" Review - Written by TonyD

“Leatherheads”
2008
*** out of ****
Director: George Clooney
Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellwegger, John Krasinski


“Leatherheads” is more than a sports film. It’s quite obvious that George Clooney was inspired by the early screwball comedies such as “It Happened One Night,” “Some Like It Hot,” and “Arsenic and Old Lace.” In “Leatherheads,” he brings screwball to a new level. We meet likeable characters, a little mystery that definitely ties in with the time period, and there are a ton of laughs to go along with the film.

In 1925, college football was more popular than pro-football. Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) and Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) are two guys who both love the sport but want nothing but success for the both of them. Carter plays college and is possibly one of the best players around. Everyone loves him and he is a sponsor for EVERYTHING. And as for Dodge… well… his pro-football team isn’t nearly as a pro-football team should be. Hell, they don’t even have enough footballs to play a game.

But Dodge’s team, the Duluth Bulldogs, picks up Rutherford to have on their team and for more money. Between the two team members, nothing could stand in their way… no one but Miss Lexie Littleton, (Renee Zellwegger) a journalist that reports the truth and nothing but. When her editor sends her out to Duluth to do a story on Carter about being a “war-hero,” he (soberly) admits to her that he’s not the war-hero that he reportedly was. If Lexie reports this story, her career and Carter’s popularity (and career also) will be on the line. If she doesn’t, then she is not giving her audience the full truth.

George Clooney does a great job at balancing the right tone for “Leatherheads.” He doesn’t make the film too artsy but still manages to make it a portrait of the 1920s. The type of humor used in “Leatherheads” isn’t a problem either. A scene that takes place in a train was obviously inspired by the scene on a train in the classic “Some Like It Hot,” and it is just as funny as that one was. “Leatherheads” can also be considered as a journalistic movie in the vein of “Shattered Glass” and even “All the President’s Men.”

The football scenes used in “Leatherheads” are a lot of fun, but there is still a lot of work to it to give it the finishing touch. Most of them are comedic, but they’re already infinite plus one times better than the schlock “The Comebacks” previously was eight months ago. There isn’t great choreography here like “Friday Night Lights,” but I expected that. If a fun time is what you were supposed to get from “Leatherheads,” then I got it. It beats those soggy-assed sport dramas as well.

The subplot to “Leatherheads” is not the storyline between whether Littleton should publish her story or not, but the subplot is rather… rules. No shit. In those days, there were no rules. You could ass-rape a football player on the field and stick green fucking cherries in between their nutsacks and it will be considered a tackle. George Clooney goes yards to tell us this (pun not intended). It’s a little bit too much for the film, especially when some of this stuff didn’t even happen until the 40s and 50s. It’s okay for me though. Have you ever felt like taking a punch at the referee? Whoopdy-fucking-doo I did!

George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger do a great job with the film, but how much are you are really surprised by that? They both have an Oscar George Clooney has an assload of appraisals (plus Uwe Boll hates him). What you should really be surprised of is John Krasinski. Yeah, we all know how kickass he is in “The Office.” I’m not going to talk about that. What I’M going to talk about how this guy can go from doing diddily-squat in “License to Wed” and actually being worth a damn in “Leatherheads.” Some people can watch this movie and forget all about last summer’s romantic pissfest, but me? I still have fucking nightmares of Robin Williams waking up at my side, wanting to touch my wiener. It’s great to know that there is some kind of relief.

“Leatherheads” isn’t nearly as bad as what some people would expect. It’s quite entertaining, and you will definitely get your money’s worth. Catch it before it’s gone.