Leatherheads- George Clooney has been dubbed "the last movie star." I don't agree with that statement but I will say that in the right role, Clooney can shine brightly. I'm not talking about his award winning work in high minded films like "Syriana" and "Michael Clayton." I'm talking about fast talking screwballs like Ulysses Everett McGill in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" It's the kind of character Clooney does best. Based on this and my love of the snappy dialogue of films like "His Girl Friday," I was very excited for "Leatherheads."
In a wonderful opening sequence, Clooney the director shows us the spectacle that was college football in 1925 followed by the decidedly unspectacular world of pro football in 1925. At least the cow on the sidelines seems entertained.
Clooney plays Dodge Connelly, "the slickest operator in Duluth," and star player of the Bulldogs. With the team on the verge of bankruptcy he and his teammates face the frightening probability that they will all have to work square jobs for the rest of their lives. In a desperate bid to save the team Dodge convinces college star and World War I hero Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) to play for pay. In 1925 this isn't as easy as it sounds. Still Carter joins the professional ranks and his star brightly outshines Dodge's. Meanwhile, a journalist named Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) is out to prove that the story of Carter's war heroics is nothing but a fabrication. To do this she must get close to Carter. But Dodge has a play to make too.
Written by first timers Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly (with an uncredited re-write by Clooney), "Leatherheads" is a likable look at football in the '20s but it's not nearly as funny as it ought to be. There is the occasional screwball moment but Clooney doesn't come close to his amazing work in "O Brother." He and Zellweger are decent together but they never catch fire and unfortunately they're not Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The film's best moments are when the two are joined on screen by Krasinski. The three of them together really make a few scenes fly. Krasinski's natural likability keeps the audience on his side throughout, even if that's not where Clooney really wants us to be. It's a reasonably fun movie but ultimately a disappointment. For screwball laughs on the big screen I'd say the better bet is "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day." 6.5/10.