Leatherheads – A Review
There are no delusions of grandeur here. No Oscars will be won and no box office records broken. But that is fine–good even–because Leatherheads knows exactly what it is up to. George Clooney stars in and directs this movie that like the un-rule-encumbered prohibition era game of pro football they play must have been just for fun.
Clooney plays Dodge Connelly, team captain of the sorry Duluth Bulldogs. Although he is just the QB, he fills the role of manager, promoter, and coach–as usual Clooney is the only suave, brainy charmer in a crowd of ignoramuses. In 1925 pro football is in such a sorry state that bankruptcy threatens to destroy the Bulldogs. The only thing that can save the organization is war hero and college football phenomena Carter ‘The Bullet’ Rutherford (John Krasinski). Trouble is just around the corner though, because feisty crack reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) is hot on the trail of what looks like a blemish in Rutherford’s record.
Honestly the plot and characters are a little bit generic, but it is not exactly predictable, and they are still feisty and endearing. The joy is in the execution. The costumes and Randy Newman’s score alone are worth the ticket price, not to mention all the snappy dialogue. This movie is a pure homage to the comedies of 1930s Hollywood. Much of the pleasure comes from watching Clooney and Zellweger play off each other–they are the perfect actors for these roles–had they been working in 1937 they could have been as famous as they are today.
Clooney, who has now directed three worthwhile films including Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Good Night, and Good Luck, understands something about storytelling that I think a lot of Hollywood is missing in 2008. There is a certain place where good movies can live that is neither pandering to the masses or tackling a polarizing issue. Where there is no agenda, and no target demographic. Somewhere between Remember the Titans and Rudy, Charlie Chaplain and The Three Stooges there could be a comedy that just is. Leatherheads is that movie. Some have called it a critique of the current professional sports situation, and it certainly could be read that way, but much more central to the film is simply the joy of telling a story in a style that we don’t see much of any more.
In this capacity I think Clooney and Leatherheads owe as much to the Coen brothers as they do the films of the 1930s. The Coens value character, dialogue, localities, film history, and simply telling stories above all else. Clooney seems to be setting himself up as their apprentice, having worked with them on O Brother Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty, and the forthcoming Burn After Reading. Fans of Clooney and the Coens will rejoice to hear that for his next project Clooney is rumored to be directing a Coen script. May their careers be long and prolific.
