As men, there are just some movies we have to see. For instance, it is mandatory, as men, to see any and all sports related movies. And be forewarned, merely seeing such movies is not enough; we, as men, must go on and on, and rant and rave about how good said sports movies are even if some of said sports movies are terrible. We are MEN, and that's what we do! Let me state for the record, that unlike some other men, I do indeed like almost all sports movies, from 61*, to Field of Dreams, to Eight Men Out. There's just something about competitive sports that not only holds my interest (which is rare with anything) but also lights an inner fire. Competition is about winning, plain and simple, and nothing captures that better than a well made sports movie!With that being said and compounded with the fact that I am a football fanatic, I was highly anticipating the opening of the movie Leatherheads. The movie stars George Clooney, aka Dodge Connolly, a charming and tough football hero, who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsors and the entire league faces collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his team. Dodge hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country’s attention. This ushers in Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), a supposed golden boy war hero who single handedly forced a group of German soldiers to surrender in WWI. Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new kid is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) aims to prove that’s the case. A small time journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter’s war story. While she seductively digs into Carter Rutherford's past, the two teammates start to become serious off field rivals for her affections. As the new game of pro football in 1925 becomes less like the free wheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams.
You can instantly tell that this movie was not only going to be set in the "old days", but they actually wrote and shot it to feel like an old style Hollywood film. To me, the movie had a bit too much old school, slap stick, 1920's Charlie Chaplin style comedy molded into it and I think the movie would have been MUCH, MUCH better without it. I especially loved (sarcasm) the scene where Carter and Dodge punch each other for what seems like half an hour and yet neither of them shows any blood or even as much as a black eye!!! This film had a great cast, great costumes and most importantly a great story line.....that's why I was so disappointed with it. Mr. Clooney, you could have done better!
I give it two and a half stars: 
3 comments:
Thank you Paul for the insight. I was wondering if I would like this movie, but for some reason it looked boring to me.
And tell me, did you like A League of Their Own? That was a sports movie that had Tom Hanks AND it appealed to girls!
Caity, I LOVED A League of Their Own! FYI, about 50% of the ballpark scenes in the movie were shot at Bosse Field whice is in Evansville, Indiana....30 miles from us.
That's cool, I had no idea.
"There's no crying in baseball!"
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