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Clooney Courts Zellweger in Screwball Comedy Set in the Roaring
Twenties
Film Review by Kam Williams
It is the height of the Roaring Twenties, an era generally associated
with overindulgence and irrational exuberance in spite of Prohibition
and the specter of the Great Depression looming over the horizon. The
decade also signaled the introduction of professional football in the
American heartland, and this is where we meet Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly
(George Clooney), the owner/captain/coach of the Duluth Bulldogs.
While most folks fail to see much of a future in a game being played on
turnip fields by miners, farmers and shell-shocked veterans, Dodge can
already envision the fledgling league’s potential as a popular spectator
sport.
Plus, the aging star is still a kid at heart, who would rather continue
playing indefinitely than make any concessions to Father Time.
But with his Bulldogs enjoying more of a reputation for brawling in
speakeasies than for greatness on the gridiron, they find themselves
without a sponsor and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. So, in order
to save his team from financial collapse, Connelly comes up with an
inspired idea to bolster his flagging franchise’s box-office receipts.
The plan is to offer a record-setting contract to Carter Rutherford
(John Krasinski), provided the Princeton University sensation is willing
to abandon plans to attend Yale Law School and turn pro instead. For the
6’3” Golden Boy offers the added bonus of being a celebrated World War I
hero who single-handedly captured a platoon of German soldiers during
the Battle of the Argonne Forest in Northern France.
Carter signs up and, sure enough, the gamble works. Sportswriters
covering the Bulldogs begin writing articles recounting the veteran’s
exploits and enormous crowds start flocking to the team’s games.
However, a fly in the ointment arrives in Lexie Littleton (Renee
Zellweger), an up-and-coming investigative journalist looking to make a
name for herself.
She suspects that the patriot’s war record might have been a bit
embellished, so she sets about doing a little digging to elicit the
truth. Meanwhile, she simultaneously finds herself being courted by both
Carter and Dodge, and a love triangle ensues.
Written and directed by George Clooney (for Syriana), Leatherheads is an
old-fashioned screwball comedy cut from the mold of a Preston Sturges
farce. Half slapstick, half romantic romp, the picture is at its best
when indulging in witty repartee between Clooney and Renee Zellweger.
Reminiscent of Tracy and Hepburn, the two Academy Award-winners again
prove their worth, generating an endearing chemistry while delivering
their every line with perfect aplomb.
If only the rest of the script measured up to their inspired exchanges,
the movie might have added up to something more memorable than a
momentary diversion. Instead, what we have is a pleasant period piece
harking back to days of yore, but one so superficial that it’s likely to
be forgotten by the time you file up the aisle.
Rated PG-13 for brief profanity.
Running time: 114 minutes
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Lloyd Kam Williams
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 Lloyd
Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who
writes for 100+ publications around the U.S. and Canada. He is a member of
the African-American Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics
Online, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee, and Rotten Tomatoes. In
addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell, he has an MA in English from
Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a JD from Boston University. Kam
lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and son.
IMDiversity.com is committed to presenting diverse points of view.
However, the viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of
the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or
employees at IMD.
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