For those of you who follow the comments sections of the various pieces here on Screenhead–and if you don’t, you really ought to; some great stuff in there–I was recently engaged in a discussion with my able colleague Kenna McHugh about originality in filmmaking. I took the stance that you don’t see much of it any more because it just doesn’t sell, whilst she responded that regardless of the numbers, we need to see more of it.
And now, I’m happy to report that there IS some still originality out there, as evidenced by the existence of the movie Leatherheads. I’ve been meaning to try this one for some time, folks, so it’s good to get it in.
Anyway, this is about professional football, back in an era when playing professional football was almost unthinkable. It was woefully underfunded, with teams folding on a weekly basis, games limited to one ball that was occasionally stolen, and players who demanded bonuses of five whole dollars upon proving they lost a tooth in play. One such struggling team, the Duluth Bulldogs, turns to a war hero football player to inject some necessary publicity into the whole industry. But when a sharp-witted young reporter digs up the truth about the war hero’s past–the war hero may not be as heroic as was projected–the Duluth Bulldogs’ chance to recover may not be as present as it once was.
For those of you who remember George Clooney, who not only serves as the director of Leatherheads but also its lead actor, from his fantastic performance in O Brother Where Art Thou? (which, for the sake of full disclosure, is on my top five all time favorite movies list), you will be not at all disappointed by his performance in Leathernecks. Depression-era America agrees with Clooney, for some reason, because he’s as good as a slick football player turned promoter as he is as a slick convict turned adventurer. Okay, so maybe the difference between Dodge Connelly and Ulysses Everett McGill isn’t exactly a long shot, but still, Clooney knows it well, and Clooney DOES it well.
The movie itself, meanwhile, is a rollicking comedy of epic proportions, even if it tries too hard on occasion. Frankly, Renee Zellweger would not have been my first choice for a romantic female lead set in the twenties (I personally would’ve checked if Laura San Giacomo was available), and the whole comic aspect of things occasionally felt a bit forced.
Occasionally, of course–there are still plenty of laughs and surprises in this one, and there’s never anything wrong with that. Clooney’s aforementioned skill will serve him well. I especially love the soundtrack–this is all that great old big band / early jazz music that’s so much fun to hear. There are even some (semi-) authentic football terms out there–a bit of research revealed that there IS such a thing as a “crusty bob”, but it’s not the same thing as what’s described in the movie.
Basically, Leatherheads is great fun, in its way, with plenty of laughs and a little extra drama for spice. It’s also not like anything we’ve seen recently, either. It’s an easy seven out of ten on the Screenhead ten scale, and worth every bit of your time.
