Mostly simply tries for fun, and for a good part of it, it delivers. But with it's jumble of elements, it doesn't allow a central one to take hold and truly fly.
Leatherheads (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 156
Fresh: 82
Rotten:74
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Consensus: Despite a good premise and strong cast, this pro football romcom is half screwball and half fumble.
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release: Apr 4, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $31,199,215
Synopsis: From his casual charm to his cleft chin, George Clooney has frequently drawn comparisons to an actor of another age: Cary Grant. With his third directorial effort, the Oscar winner pays homage to the style of films that helped make Grant... From his casual charm to his cleft chin, George Clooney has frequently drawn comparisons to an actor of another age: Cary Grant. With his third directorial effort, the Oscar winner pays homage to the style of films that helped make Grant famous, such as BRINGING UP BABY and HIS GIRL FRIDAY. In 1925, when LEATHERHEADS takes place, professional football is a joke, especially when compared to its more respected college cousin. Teams across the country are folding, and player Dodge Connelly (Clooney) will do anything to keep his own team, the Duluth Bulldogs, from folding. The enterprising (read: scheming) Dodge steals Princeton star and war hero Carter Ruthford (John Krasinski, THE OFFICE) from his school, and soon the Bulldogs are winning, but it's the game of football that is the real champion as fans pack the stadiums. Meanwhile, reporter Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) begins investigating Rutherford's past, thanks to a tip from one of the star's old war buddies that he may not be all he seems. The pre-regulation football is dirty, but it's far cleaner than the action when Dodge and Carter vie for Lexie's affections. From the classic Universal logo that opens the film, Clooney firmly sets his film in the sepia-toned past. His lightning-fast dialogue is certainly reminiscent of the repartee between Grant and costars such as Katharine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell. But as much as he owes to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and '40s, he also is mining the same vein that his frequent collaborators, the Coen Brothers, did in films such as THE HUDSUCKER PROXY and INTOLERABLE CRUELTY. Clooney's previous directorial efforts--CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND and GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK--were also both stylish films set in the past, but LEATHERHEADS is a more fun, mainstream work. [More]
Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski, Jonathan Pryce
Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski, Jonathan Pryce
Director: George Clooney
Director: George Clooney
Screenwriter: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly
Producer: Grant Heslov, Casey Silver
Composer: Randy Newman
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for Leatherheads
Leatherheads really doesn't know what kind of film it is, and as a result it shanks the winning kick -not by a mile- but by enough to be a disappointment.
A gorgeous, charming, quaintly stylish movie comprised almost exclusively of moments and not so much story or characters.
Therein lies the problem with Leatherheads %u2014 it has too many fish to fry, and most of them come out half-done.
This is the slightest of Clooney's directorial offerings, but it's carried over the line by two charismatic leads and a well-honed screenplay.
"Leatherheads" fails because it has trouble balancing its many plots, and because it has nothing remotely interesting to say about any of them.
I'm sad to report that Clooney has had his first misfire as a director.
The movie does a nice job with the period details, but Clooney still can't get the romantic comedy angle right.
Leatherheads, which opens with the logo that Universal used back in the 1940s instead of the present one, is so successful at reviving the screwball comedy that you're prepared to forgive it some flaws.
Leatherheads is like an oasis in the middle of a desert – a genuinely enjoyable romantic comedy.
Meticulously recreating the era and the sensibilities of the time, Clooney looks as though he is having a riot of a time, be it is grappling in the mud for the ball, or throwing madcap lines at Renee Zellweger's worldly, ambitious journalist
It's hard to deny that Clooney is one of Hollywood's best leading men, and "Leatherheads" proves that he can be just as good behind the camera as he is in front of it.
Leatherheads shoots for the Frank Capra/Howard Hawks goal posts but instead winds up getting bogged down midfield.
What starts as a thoroughly enjoyable screwball romp ... gets bogged down in some over-ambitious plotting and serious themes as it goes along
A quiet variety of disaster--the type that attracts no cults and appears as a curiosity on a few talented folks' résumés for people to try to place in a year or so. Maybe less.
Clooney tries to Flags of Our Fathers if directed by Preston Sturges.
Latest News for Leatherheads
September 10, 2008:
An odd screen combo of insanely silly retro-screwball humor, the bumbling antics of a football team of attention deficit disorder, looney tunes Keystone jocks, and a smart-aleck, acid tongue reporter babe upstaging all those sweaty gents around her. ![]()
More...
April 16, 2008:
UK Box Office Breakdown: Sony's 21 Gamble pays off
Gambling drama 21 cleans up at the UK box office this week, taking both the number one spot and twice-as-much cash as another film. George Clooney however should maybe stick to... More...
April 10, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Teens Dress Up For Prom Night
Multiplexes gear up for another weekend of empty seats as Hollywood supplies three new films that are unlikely to energize the North American box office. More...
April 07, 2008:
WGA, George Clooney at odds over Leatherheads credit ![]()
Clooney went financial core last fall, after the WGA decided 2-1 in a credit arbitration vote that only Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly deserved screen credit on the picture... More...
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