Leatherheads
In the beginning, the rules were simple. There weren't any.
Dodge Connolly (George Clooney), a swaggering, aging football hero, is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention.
Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), America's prodigal son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. But if Dodge thinks this new champ is too good to be true, then Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) can prove that's the case.
A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who sniffs holes in Carter's war story. While she digs, however, the two teammates become off-field rivals for her affections. As the love triangle grows, Dodge fights to get the girl while he tries to keep his guys together. And if Connolly is certain of one thing... it's that you always keep one final play from the defense.
Member Reviews
Good. - moviegenius
I liked this movie. I saw it with a friend. The humor in this film was pretty funny. I like the actor George Clooney and John Krasinski from The Office is pretty likable, too. So, I think that this is a pretty funny movie that is worth seeing. So, you can go out today and rent Leatherheads. Or watch it on TV.Almost a Score...but just missed wide right - Mookie
This movie is fun and George does a great job at capturing some of the comedic word play I love from all those early movies (Philadelphia Story, It happened One Night, The Thin Man...the list goes on). It misses the mark in a few places to keep it from being more than average. First, George's nemesis is to nice, too likeable so their conflict lacks punch and it lacks sparks. Even the competition from Renee never really gets started. So without a worthy opponent the drama of the story also lacks tension. Second, the big conflict near the end is "Can GEorge play without resorting to dirty tricks". Well they must have deleted a few too many scenes because I didn't recall him ever playing dirty (only lamenting that rules would ruin the game when a game ball is lost). So thie set up for this conflict was totally contrived and not set up properly.
There are a few other things but the main point is - these writing flaws weaken the story and pulls the audience out of the film. Still a good renter, but it could have been better.Screwball football comedy lacks bounce - Baboonvideo
Having failed to realize how difficult it is to make a worthwhile spin on screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s with the Coen brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty (2003), George Clooney gives it another go with Leatherheads, only this time he’s strapped himself into the director’s chair as well. But though Clooney gets many of the details right – the snappy banter, the twinkling background score – he fails to really find much spring in Leatherheads, a mechanically “wacky” comedy about pro football circa 1925, and a tense Renee Zellweger is miscast as a “snappy” gal reporter / Clooney’s love interest.
Member Reviews
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Good. - moviegenius
I liked this movie. I saw it with a friend. The humor in this film was pretty funny. I like the actor George Clooney and John Krasinski from The Office is pretty likable, too. So, I think that this is a pretty funny movie that is worth seeing. So, you can ...Almost a Score...but just missed wide right - Mookie
This movie is fun and George does a great job at capturing some of the comedic word play I love from all those early movies (Philadelphia Story, It happened One Night, The Thin Man...the list goes on). It misses the mark in a few places to keep it from being ...Screwball football comedy lacks bounce - Baboonvideo
Having failed to realize how difficult it is to make a worthwhile spin on screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s with the Coen brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty (2003), George Clooney gives it another go with Leatherheads, only this time he’s strapped himself into ...