Leatherheads (2008)

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Directed by and starring George Clooney, and modelled after classic Hollywood screwball comedies, "Leatherheads" stars Clooney as an American footballer who strikes up a relationship with a feisty reporter (Renee Zellweger). Along the way he battles rival football teams, hucksters and big business.Clooney, unlike most sex symbols, has always been willing to portray himself as a silly goofball. Here he exudes Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Bugs Bunny, part debonair, part comic strip. Zellweger, meanwhile, recalls Claudette Colbert and Rosalind Russell, both early screwball comediennes. The film co-stars John Krasinski and boasts fine set design and lavish period details. With contemporary adult comedies largely R rated, the pg12, squeaky-clean "Leatherheads" is a bit of an anomaly.7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.

Set in the late 1920's, Leatherheads, directed by George Clooney, takes a look into the formation and legitimization of professional football in the United States. The film is not the best of Clooney's work as a director, but it definitely got me to laugh and kept me interested with a plot that thickens as the movie progresses in this romantic, screwball, sports comedy. Now that may sound like a mouthful of genres thrown together, but taking place in the world of football, then filled with field workers, coal miners, and generally the brutes who could not make it into college, the film incorporates a love triangle between Dodge Connelly (George Clooney), Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford(John Krasinski), and Lexie Littleton(Renée Zellweger) along with a double plot. Early in the film it is revealed that Dodge's team, the Deluth Bulldogs, has gone bankrupt and can't afford to keep paying its players or travel to away games, which is also the reality of many other teams at the time. College football, on the other hand, is extremely popular, especially the sensational Carter Rutherford, a war hero (he single handedly stopped a squad of German soldiers while in combat) that is unstoppable on the field and has dashing good looks. Dodge plans to save the dying professional football league by recruiting Rutherford to play for the Deluth Bulldogs. In the midst of this, Lexie Littleton is a young, attractive, spitfire reporter assigned to do a story on the country's youngest and biggest war hero; however, the goal of her story is to find a fault in the man, to discredit the young hero and find out the truth. All three of our characters then find themselves together as Dodge coincidentally meets Lexie right before he talks Rutherford into playing for the Bulldogs. The movie goes on to follow the three of them in their tour of the east coast, playing football and trying to uncover the truth, with lots of screwball comedy along the way and some surprising twists in the story.The actors chosen for this film were an okay cast. George Clooney is a very strong, charismatic actor with a strong background from films such as "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) and "O Brother Where Art Thou?" (2000). He plays a convincing role in this film as well, making the audience believe that he really loves playing football with his friends and doesn't want to lose it just because there's no more money in it. His character does develop well throughout the movie as he faces the issues in front of him, and does so with a charm like any other man from the '20s would have. John Krasinski, most well known as Jim from NBC's "The Office", plays a much better role in this film then he did in "License to Wed" (2007). He fits the character perfectly as he is able to connect with both Clooney and Zellweger, even though he is much younger. Zellweger is the only character that wasn't the best possible cast in the movie for Littleton's character. Although she does look like she could be straight out of the 20's with her costumes and attitude in the film, her chemistry with Clooney and Krisinksi seems to be a little forced, like they are acting, as opposed to a flowing chemistry that makes the acting disappear and brings the film to life. The other problem is the age difference between the characters; it's a love triangle between different generations, this is a cause of the poor chemistry in some of the scenes. Overall each actor fits their own respective character and plays them well, and with Clooney's and Krasinksi's strong background in comedy, it really makes for a fun, playful film as they throw quip's back and forth at each other and try to woo Zellweger along the way. Aside from the acting, the art direction of this film was done excellently by Christa Munro and Scott T. Ritenour. The movie is scripted to take place in the 20s, and it looks like it was filmed then. Every single outfit seen in the movie is tailored and looks completely authentic to the time period (Costume designer: Louise Frogley) . The main outfits seen in the film are all custom fit suits, with common colors, such as black and tan. The military uniforms seen are also all accurate to the times, simple yet authoritative, and accurate to the uniforms used during World War II. The vehicles are all old Model T's etc, and Clooney rides around on a 1918 Indian motorcycle(which is actually an electric replica, but looks real nonetheless). The main transportation used in the film is by train, which was a new and popular way to travel during that era. The uniforms worn during the football games are also accurate to what was worn in the 20's by football players. The film even includes a scene that takes place in a speakeasy, as prohibition was still in effect at that time. The biggest downfall of the movie is the poor chemistry between Clooney and Zellweger, as they are the main love interests of the film, but their mismatched casting does not take away too much from the enjoyment of the film. The film is very appealing to the eye because of its accuracy of what the '20s looked like. The jokes throughout the film are also good for a laugh and are sure to at least make you smile. The plot of the film also starts somewhat slow, but the jokes start early and allow you to get past that. As the film progresses and more is revealed and the characters start to change and develop, the film becomes more enjoyable and continually draws you in, especially to find out what happens to the Bulldogs after signing Rutherford and what is the true story behind his heroism. This is definitely a film worth seeing for a good laugh and good time.

I was surprised to see the very generous rating on IMDb. This honestly is the worst film i have watched in my entire life. It was so slow and lifeless that i actually started making up other stories in my head to help make the time pass faster.Im not a high maintenance film watcher - ill happily sit through the most basic Rom com to an espionage film with constant twists and turns, to ... well you get the picture. My tastes are well rounded and easy to please.Renee looked like she had just sucked on a lemon in every scene. Her accent was terrible and acting worse. Im a huge fan of Bridget Jones and its tongue in cheek humour and her good portrait of the character so had some expectations (not particularly high) of how this movie would be. It didn't even deliver on those moderate expectations.If you have nothing to do this afternoon i suggest you save your $10 and watch paint dry or something equally more exciting than sitting through this film

Poor material makes even the decent chemistry between George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger really nothing.The story is about 1925 college football, or is it beyond college? That point is really not established and at times becomes confusing.While you do get a feel for the roaring twenties period, the writing is ridiculous as Renee Zellwegger, a reporter, tries to get the goods on a football hero who is also a war hero.Some of the scenes, especially running away from a speak-easy raid and jumping off a building into a net are ridiculous. The picture is nothing more than a cheap ripoff of a bygone era filled with clichés which eventually run themselves into the ground.