Clooney’s not a
funny fellow

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

When I think of famous comedic actors, George Clooney is never one who comes to mind. Clooney may be a great actor, but he should probably stick to the more serious stuff. That’s because Leatherheads, his attempt at a 1920s-era slapstick comedy film, fumbles.
Leatherheads is not terrible, but it’s not very good either. I’d call it an adequate time-waster at best, and nothing more. Unfortunately, actor-director Clooney’s charm and rugged good looks couldn’t make Leatherheads a better movie.
The other lead actors, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski (of TV’s The Office), are perfectly pleasant, but like the rest of the movie, they’re ultimately forgettable.
The script is the movie’s biggest problem because the entire film feels anticlimactic. Besides the early exchanges between Clooney and Zellweger, the rest of the movie is completely flat and at times even boring.
The film takes us back to 1925, the early days of professional football when the rules were nearly nonexistent. The fans also were nonexistent, and that’s why Dodge Connelly (Clooney) wants to recruit college football star and war hero Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford (Krasinski) for his team, the Duluth Bulldogs.
College football games are filling the stands, so team captain Dodge hopes bringing Carter to the pros will bring more fans. The powers-that-be are also trying to legitimize professional football by adding — gasp! — rules to the game.
Carter may not be the All-American boy that everyone claims; seems there is some doubt cast over his story of being a war hero by single-handedly capturing a platoon of German soldiers. Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) is the newspaper reporter assigned to get the real story on Carter. Her motivation is the promise of the assistant editor job if she can find out the truth.
Lexie engages in a little flirting with both Dodge and Carter, which leads to a silly rivalry between the guys that culminates in a childish fistfight.
The nostalgia aspect of the movie is nice, with upbeat, jazzy music by Randy Newman and great period costumes. The movie actually looked like it was a lot more fun for the cast than the audience because they got to play dress-up and throw around a football in the mud.
Clooney mostly comes off as smug (especially when he’s courting Zellweger’s character) and unbelievable as a football player. He is in his late 40s, after all, and I honestly haven’t heard of too many football players in the pros at that age.
Krasinski is amiable and has the face to pull off the All-American guy look. I much preferred Zellweger’s other 1920s period film, Chicago, when she played murderess Roxie Hart. In Leatherheads, she’s quick-witted, but otherwise not at all interesting. She has little chemistry with Clooney (an older man) or Krasinski (a younger man).
Neither the love-triangle story nor the action on the football field was engaging enough to hold my attention. There are a few goofy gags, which happen far too early and, from then on, infrequently, as long periods go by without inciting laughter in what’s supposed to be a comedy.
Clooney dropped the ball in Leatherheads. It’s disappointing that a movie with such a promising cast delivers so little. ••
Movie Grade: B-