Academy Award® winners George Clooney and Renée Zellweger team up in this fun-filled comedy set against the beginnings of pro football. Dodge Connelly (Clooney), captain of a struggling squad of barroom brawlers, has only one hope to save his team: recruit college superstar Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski, The Office). But when a feisty reporter (Zellweger) starts snooping around, she turns the two teammates into instant rivals and kicks off a wild competition filled with hilarious screwball antics! Critics are cheering Leatherheads as "a real winner" (Claudia Puig, USA Today).
Leatherheads is a sort of two-fisted homage, simultaneously celebrating the early, unstructured days of professional football and the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s. George Clooney stars as "Dodge" Connelly of the Duluth Bulldogs, a wily (if a bit long in the tooth) player whose team goes bankrupt. His solution is to lure a war hero and star of the college-football circuit, Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford (John Krasinski from the American version of The Office) to join the team and, through the sheer force of his celebrity, legitimize professional football. Little does Connelly know that Rutherford's war record is being scrutinized by reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) and what she uncovers may undermine the whole scheme. Leatherheads isn't seamless--at times the screwball flavor feels forced and Zellweger's performance is labored--but those few awkward elements only emphasize how zippy and fun the rest of the movie is. Clooney also directed and demonstrates some real flair with editing and letting the fringes of the story be as vital as the main plot. Krasinski, with his goofy handsomeness and a streak of Jimmy Stewart charm, shows real promise as a movie star. Though Leatherheads has plenty of broad slapstick (and most of it is pretty funny), the movie's real comic richness comes out in offhand gestures and sly revelations of character. All in all, it isn't Preston Sturges (director of classic comedies like The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story), but it's in his neighborhood, and that's a pretty wonderful neighborhood to be in. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Leatherheads (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Bored to death:
I like all of the actors in this movie and loved the old-time look of it. But. It. Was. Awful. The best parts are the football games. The middle of the movie was dreary, dull and honestly, Zellweger was badly miscast. She came off mean and simpering. I could hardly finish this. Not even a diehard Clooney fan (and I am) could love this movie.
A fumble...:
LEATHERHEADS is set back in 1925, during the early stages of American professional football. Except that pro football, back then, was considered the ugly cousin of college football, a sport which gloriously reigned supreme. However, once graduated from college, one is supposed to go and get a real grown-up job. For pro footballer Dodge Connelly (Clooney) and his rowdy ragtag bunch of Duluth Bulldogs, it's a life of irrelevance and being made much fun of. The Bulldogs once even had to forfeit a game when... more info
Average football flick:
I'm no fan of football, and believe me, it's not for lack of trying. I want to be that guy who has the team football jersey, can rattle off the names of various players of numerous teams, have a fantasy football habit, and be able to toss the ol' pigskin in my backyard with friends. I've made myself sit down and watch it, and while I understand the game mechanics, I just can't seem to get into the game itself. Ironically, and for reasons I will never be able to understand or adequately explain, I really... more info
fun era to watch:
Funny movie about football before rules. 1920s America is a fascinating period and I wish there were more films exploring that time. Clooney and my Texas homegirl Zellweger both do a good job, as usual. The story also touches on our need for heroes in a very humorous way.
