| LEATHERHEADS |
 2008 - USADirector: George Clooney
- Reviewed by Vickie
Man's man George Clooney does double duty, sittin' in the director's chair and suitin' up in pads to play Dodge Connelly, an over-the-hill gridiron star in 1925, who's one down away from hangin' up his cleats for good. He's old, see, and the football league's changin'... changin' in a way that means it'll be sayin' so long to fossils like Dodge. What's worse, hotshot college boy and purple-hearted war hero Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) makes plays like nobody's business and could give the league a big ole shot in the arm! He's the big cheese as far as his agent, CC (Jonathan Pryce), is concerned... and he brings in the clams, so the league suits love him, too. Know who doesn't love him? A whole mess of his former comrades-in-arms, who say Carter's full of hot air and ain't no war hero. So a Chicago paper puts a dame on the case—a bird named Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger), with great gams and a keen kisser, who's hittin' on all sixes to get that story. Problem is, she meets Dodge, who thinks she's swell... real swell... the bee's knees and all that... and before you know it, every joint is jumpin' with their quick wit and smart barbs as Lexie chases Carter, and Dodge chases Lexie. Is Carter the real McCoy? Is he on the level? Will Lexie fall for Dodge? Will Dodge get canned from the sport he loves so much? Do ya really not know? C'mon. Baby, here's what's what: sure, the script's got moxie, and Clooney and Zellweger are the cat's meow when it comes to toe-to-toe banter. Those two kids know how to turn a phrase and they bring the funny as much as they can. Krasinski won't blow anybody's hair back or nuthin', since he's doin' the same nice-guy schtick he does on The Office... but here's my big beef: everybody's nice. There ain't no villain... except maybe the palookas turnin' football into a business instead of a sport. And without a villain, the tension's gone. And without tension, the story's all wet. You can't root for everybody, so... do you root for nobody? Don't get me wrong, pal, there's plenty of good laughs in Leatherheads and the folks onscreen'll give you the business in a fun way, but it all ain't enough to do more than just leave you with a nice wink and a smile on your way out. Which is good, but not great. |
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Listen, doll, here's the skinny on this picture: it's good, but it
ain't great. It's got a whole lot o' rat-a-tat-tat dialogue comin' fast
and furious like a sailor on shore leave, but it's sayin' a lot without
sayin' much. Funny? Sure. But so's my aunt Millie when she's had one
too many whiskey sours, and nobody's payin' her $20 million to crack
wise.
