Leatherheads
Movie Review
"Leatherheads"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: B
Rating: PG-13
Released: Friday, April 4, 2008
Directed by:
Cast:
If the slick and silly "Leatherheads" is any indication, the time George Clooney spent with the Coen brothers has rubbed off on him. Clooney's third stint in the director's chair is a loopy Roaring Twenties screwball comedy, and much of its wry, slightly detached humor is reminiscent of the Coens' Clooney-centric "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Intolerable Cruelty." It feels a bit "Raising Arizona," too, which starred Nicolas Cage but could have just as easily starred Clooney.
An even greater influence, of course, are the dialogue-heavy comedies of the 1930s, and Clooney breezes through "Leatherheads" -- both as director and star -- with the confidence of a man who knows the style forward and backward. When his character, an aging but still footloose playboy, quips, "You're only as young as the women you feel," you can imagine it coming from the mouth of Clark Gable or Cary Grant. Or, for that matter, from the real-life Clooney.
The film is set in 1925, at a time when college football is well funded and respected while professional football is a chaotic joke played by unsportsmanlike ruffians. Dodge Connelly (Clooney) is the captain of the Duluth (Minn.) Bulldogs, a pro team that's on the verge of closing up shop until Dodge gets the bright idea of hiring college golden boy Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski). Carter, fresh-faced and all-American, brings legions of fans with him, thanks not just to his gridiron prowess but to his status as a hero of the Great War, in which it is said he once captured a trench full of Germans single-handedly.
The Bulldogs' fortunes change overnight. Suddenly the stands are full of spectators, and suddenly the team is occasionally even winning a game or two. There is also new media scrutiny, in the form of Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger), a Chicago Tribune reporter who's been assigned to get the real dirt on Carter's war heroics. She travels with the team, cozies up to Carter, and butts heads with Dodge in that old Grant-and-Hepburn fashion. Their repartee (originally penned by sports writers Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, though Clooney gave the script a major overhaul) is saucy and cute, genuinely recalling the 1930s comedies that it's meant to evoke, and Zellweger is as adept at playing old-Hollywood characters as Clooney is. (Krasinski, on the other hand, always seems too modern for the film, though his performance is otherwise keen.)
The film's midsection sags a bit as two plot threads jostle each other for attention. One deals with the Carter-Lexie-Dodge romantic triangle; the other centers on Carter's war record and his and Lexie's ever-shifting views on whether to go public with the truth. (Suffice it to say he didn't exactly capture all those Germans single-handedly. The real story, seen in flashback, is much funnier.) Both facets of the plot are important; they just need to be juggled more elegantly, maybe with a little tighter editing and sharper focus.
Clooney's grinning, Clark Gable-y insouciance eventually sets the tone for the entire film, with everyone calibrating their own performances to match his. That includes Stephen Root as a consistently inebriated sports writer (is there any other kind?) who usually just prints whatever Dodge dictates to him, and Jonathan Pryce as a conniving sports agent (is there any other kind?) trying to make a buck off of Carter Rutherford. Even Randy Newman's old-timey musical score feels jaunty and carefree, a perfect match for the goofy merriment of the story. Many people already consider Clooney to be the 21st century's best example of an old-style Hollywood movie star, and "Leatherheads" cozies right up to that image, and douses it with a bit of modern Coen-style irony for good measure.
Grade: B
Rated PG-13, some mild profanity; should have been PG
1 hr., 53 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 10 comments
April 3, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I was pretty sure Randy Newman was playing the piano in the bar fight scene, so I checked IMDB to see if he's ever done something like that before. As near as I can tell, he's only ever played himself or sung the film's songs. Are there any other instances where he's made cameos that anyone knows of?
April 3, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I'm not sure, but I'm so going to this movie!! Spending a couple hours with both Clooney & Krasinski? Yeah, I don't care if they just stand still for two hours, I'm so going!!! One question though.....does John Krasinski look at the camera a lot like he does on "The Office"?
April 4, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Why would he look at the camera a lot? He only does that on The Office because that's the style of the show. The characters know the camera is there. They have one-on-one interviews with the cameraman. In a movie like this, where the camera is an unseen observer, the characters don't look at the camera. It's not a John Krasinski thing, it's an Office thing.
April 4, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Pretty sure it was just a wry comment Chocolatestu. No need to lecture.
April 4, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I would certainly hope so, but with out a ;) or a "lol" how can you really tell? It's not like you can hear vocal expression through the computer. I wasn't lecturing, just trying to answer the question in case it WAS serious. It's not like John Krasinski has done much besides The Office, so it could be something people associate with him more than just with the show. But speaking of taking things too seriously... :)
April 4, 2008 at 7:59 pm
That is one of the biggest downsides to the internet..and text messaging..and snail mail I suppose.
April 4, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I just saw Leatherheads today - it was really great, and I don't even like football. Clooney has such charm.
I recognized a bunch of actors from 'O' Brother, Where Art Thou?' in it too, which makes sense, I suppose.
April 5, 2008 at 11:29 pm
It seems that "insouciant" is a popular word for describing this film. Besides Eric, it has also been used by A.O. Scott of the New York Times and Christopher Kelly of the DFW Star-Telegram. Kudos to you movie critics for using slightly obscure but quite appropriate adjectives. Where were you when I was studying for the GRE?
April 7, 2008 at 12:27 am
Sorry Chocolatestu (awesome name btw) !! I'll try to be more expressive in the future! ;)
October 3, 2008 at 5:13 pm
(Some SPOILERS in this comment)
I was disappointed by this movie. Great actors, great story idea, great acting for that matter. I felt the story wondered around, never actually knowing what it was suppose to be about. Was it a story about a war hero? What it a story about pro football becoming popular? Or was it a story of an old football star who didn't want to change with the times? And just when you think you know what's going on, we have a speakeasy raid with slapstick shenanigans.
But what really turned me off was Renee Zellweger character. John Krasinski plays a down to earth, likable guy stuck in a hard situation. The movie makes it clear that it wasn't his fault, and he was torn between the truth and being a much needed hero for the country and army.
In a private moment he tells Lexie Littleton the truth about his situation. In a private moment, as one friend to another he confides in her. Then we are suppose to applaud for sticking up to pressure and "doing the right thing?" Sorry, after that back stabbing how can the movie expect me to cheer for her, no matter how feisty or quick witted she is. She sold out a friend to further her career. Maybe this would have worked if some other, more sleazy actor had played Carter Rutherford, but John Krasinski is just to likable.
And the ending? Maybe the rules were very lax back then, but all I can say is "Off sides, 15 yard penalty on the offense, repeat 4th down."