Movie Review : Leatherheads

Author: Izarrudin
Category: Movies
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Saturday
Sep 20,2008

Leatherheads will be in our cinemas next week. I’m fine with sports movies accept for “Real, The Movie” that had successfully wasted my time watching it. Leatherheads had been incorrectly marketed as a romantic comedy (romcom), it starts well but runs out of steam about halfway through, though it’s still worth seeing for the performances and Clooney’s Coen-esque direction. Read on…

Set in 1925, Leatherheads stars George Clooney as American football player Dodge Connolly, who realises that football games need to attract much bigger crowds if the sport is going to survive. With that in mind, he persuades agent CC Frazier (Jonathan Pryce) to allow college football star-slash-war hero Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) to play for Connolly’s team, in the hopes that Carter’s nationwide fame will result in massive crowds.

However, a member of Carter’s platoon has cast aspersions on his so-called heroism, causing ace reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) to shadow the team in the hopes of uncovering the truth. Things are further complicated when Dodge falls for Lexie, only to find her schmoozing Carter in pursuit of her story.

Leatherheads starts well, with strong, likeable characters and sparky, screwball comedy-style banter between the two leads. There’s also some delightful, Coen-esque direction from Clooney, such as the game being played in a field that still has cows in it. In addition, there’s genuine chemistry between Clooney and Zellweger, as well as strong comic support from both Krasinski and Stephen Root as Dodge’s sportswriter friend, Sudsy.

However, it quickly becomes apparent that the film has been badly mismarketed as a romcom, because it’s much more about the early days of pro football than about the relationship between the two leads. To that end, the relationship conflict is resolved far too quickly, jettisoning the promising love triangle aspect of the story and rapidly running out of steam as a result.

In addition, the film is a good 20 minutes too long, to the point where the climactic scenes with the players slogging through thick mud begins to feel like a metaphor for the entire movie.

Leatherheads is worth seeing if you’re a fan of either Clooney or period sports dramas but if you’re expecting a romcom you’ll be disappointed. As the relationship between Renee and Clooney is actually just a subplot of this movie. I would recommend you to watch this one just because its fun and interesting to watch American football during this era.

credits: ViewLondon

Official Movie Poster
Movie Review : Leatherheads

Singapore Date: 25th September 2008
Language: English
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Tagline: In the beginning, the rules were simple. There weren’t any.
Starring: Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski, George Clooney, Wayne Duvall, Stephen Root
Directed by: George Clooney
Company: Casey Silver Productions
Singapore Distributor: United International Pictures

iZone Rating:

7/10

Official Website :
Leatherheads

Movie Trailer