“LEATHERHEADS”
Starring George Clooney,
Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski
Released: April 4, 2008

WATCH THE TRAILER

Even a cast featuring Clooney, Zellweger, and Krasinski can't make this mish-mash of genres work.

“LEATHERHEADS” IS NOT a movie for those with short attention spans or, for that matter, those who are driven by action.

The film, set in 1925, does a good job of following the mood set by its swing and jazz music. Long, trifling, and without much of a driving plot, “Leatherheads” has an ironic twist that is not worth the wait.

Jimmy Connelly, affectionately called “Dodge” (George Clooney), based on the true-life football star Johnny “Blood” McNally, is a middle-aged captain of a pro football team, the Bulldogs, in Duluth, Minn.

Without a strong backing, the pro league is at high risk of falling apart, as it is seen as a joke compared to college football. Rules don’t exist, teams have little or no funding, and the following is just as bad.

When Jimmy’s team loses its sponsor, he ventures to keep it alive by recruiting a big-time college player from Princeton, Carter Rutherford, nicknamed the “Bullet” (John Krasinski). Carter’s character is based on Harold “Red” Grange, a football star who played for the University of Illinois and later the Chicago Bears.

Carter agrees to the scheme and begins plans to play with the Bulldogs. Along for the ride is sly journalist Lexie Littleton (from Champaign), played by Renée Zellweger, who is determined to get the scoop on Carter, who is also a nationally known World War I hero.

With Carter on the team the Bulldogs soon develop a huge following and tons of publicity, even having spectators at practices. They become a victorious team that earns headlines everywhere, a success beyond what Jimmy had even hoped for.

Lexie, who was originally assigned to get a single interview out of Carter, stays with the team for more than a month while they develop into a media hot topic. Her goal is to get Carter to talk about the war and the story that made him a national hero, but it takes longer than she had hoped to get the scoop.

Along the way to getting her story Lexie and Carter become close, which is how Lexie finally gets Carter to give up his story (which is different from the version the American public believes and would discredit Carter’s status as a war hero).

Lexie and Jimmy then develop a personal relationship which, combined with Carter’s frustration over Lexie selling him out, leads to Carter’s departure from the Bulldogs to the Chicago Bears. The loss of Carter is a hard blow to the Bulldogs, but they continue to play pro football, just without the hard backing of Carter’s fans.

When the legitimacy of Carter’s reputation as a war hero comes into question after Lexie’s story, the American public chooses to believe it’s a hoax, just another way for newspapers to make money. Carter denies the story, claiming he never told Lexie anything like that.

His fans and admirers doubt the authenticity of the tale and believe there are no real sources, an uncertainty that especially comes into play once the only other source Lexie cited claims the article is a jumble of half truths and lies. An investigation is put forth to determine what the truth is.

Things come to a climax when the Bulldogs head to Chicago to play the Bears. Lexie’s relationship with Carter and Jimmy, the truth behind Carter’s legendary war story, and which team will beat the other must be settled.

The characters of “Leatherheads” are enjoyable, the music choice appropriate, the authenticity believable, but the plot is not strong enough to make the movie stand out.

Nowadays most movies make money by catching people off guard, either by making everything louder, bigger, and better, or by being original in a well-received way. “Leatherheads” would fit into the latter category but lacks the flair needed to make it memorable. As it stands, the film is dull, and while sitting through it I couldn’t imagine how much longer it could continue.

Yes, it has comedy; yes, it has romance. Yes, it has athletics, and yes, it has bar fights. The elements are there but they don’t jump out as anything extraordinary; there was nothing about the film that would make me want to watch it again.

Before seeing “Leatherheads” I thought it would be a good change of pace. It’s not the typical romance movie filled with sappy scenes, but it isn’t a high-action movie where guns and bombs are flaring off left and right. I figured a movie that is simplistic in its intent would be refreshing, something to take American cinema back to that classic era of filmmaking.

Directed by Clooney and co-written by former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, “Leatherheads” certainly occupies a category unlike most others. It isn’t a typical 21st-century comedy, romance, or action film, and, in some sense, I think that’s its problem. What would appear to be a great change of pace turned out to be the flaw that ruined this film.

“Leatherheads” was neither here nor there. It wasn’t a comedy, romance, or action film. It was a small mush of too many genres that lasted too long without clear direction. In trying to incorporate so many different genres, “Leatherheads” fails to grasp a single one.

A cast with George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, and John Krasinski would appear to have the makings of an American classic. The material they were given to work with falls short of anything of the sort. Their performances were far from bad; they just did as much as they could have with the lackluster plot.

The movie doesn’t always make sense, nor does its incoherent storytelling. Some parts of the story are either pointless or just don’t fit in with the flow of things. Once viewers are able to decipher what is going on, they are left to ask, “Why?”

“Leatherheads” is currently playing at the Goodrich Savoy 16, 232 W. Burwash, Savoy, and the Beverly 18, 910 Meijers Drive, Champaign.

“LEATHERHEADS” AT A GLANCE

• Starring: George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski
• Directed by: George Clooney
• Written by: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly
• Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sport
• Rated: PG-13
• Runtime: 114 min.
• Release date: April 4, 2008
• Summary: George Clooney stars as a pioneering pro football player in the 1920s determined to keep his team — and his sport — alive despite multiple complications, romantic and otherwise.
• External links: Official site, IMDb entry