George Clooney's latest directorial project is the screwball comedy, Leatherheads (PG-13). Set during the roaring '20's Clooney stars as an aging professional football player who is trying to recruit a college standout/war hero (John Krasinski) to enter the befuddled league. Renee Zellweger costars as a feisty newspaper reporter determined to uncover the truth behind Krasinski's war stories.
Ryan: I have a lot of respect for Clooney's work so when he has a new project I take notice. Whether it's fair to him or not I have strong expectations when seeing one of his films. In one regard Leatherheads is somewhat of a disappointment. The movie fails to capture the charm of a genuine screwball comedy. But on the other hand it's still a pretty entertaining flick. It has many light-hearted moments of fun intertwined with an interesting football narrative when professional football was about as exciting (or watched) as professional men's soccer.
Andy: First and foremost, Leatherheads is a welcome break from what is available in the cinemas this time of year. It is a simple romantic comedy, but it is also ambitious in that it's trying to revive the somewhat dormant subgenre of the screwball comedy. I found it to be largely successful, as it is entertaining, funny, and has a pretty interesting story. It isn't as polished as a great work of cinema should be, but it's early April and generally you just don't get to see great works of cinema this time of year.
Ryan: The biggest issue with the movie is that it's not as tight as Clooney's other directorial efforts (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck). For one the story's quite clunky. The romantic triangle (crucial to movies of this genre) never fully develops. Secondly, the story's climax is reached too early as the film drags on with a snoozer third act. I'll concede that maybe I'm being too nit-picky but with the talent involved one just expects a more complete finished product.
Andy: I would be cautious in comparing this to Clooney's other films. To say that it's not as good as Confessions or Good Night and Good Luck isn't really saying much. Both of those were outstanding movies and you wouldn't expect him to maintain that high a level of work each time out. Also, those movies took themselves pretty seriously, and this is a light-hearted comedy. Making a tight, funny comedy that is also a great film is very rare. I'll admit that this movie falls short of that, but in both direction and performance I this is a nice progression for Clooney.
Ryan: Although I've seen Clooney make sub-par films (The Good German and Intolerable Cruelty) I've never seen him give a bad performance (Batman and Robin was not all his fault). He's a professional and his performances are always as good (or better) than the movie he's appearing in. With Leatherheads his performance is better than the movie--and his direction. As for the other two leads, Zellweger has proven in the past that she has the zing for period romantic comedies and her performance here reassures that point. For Krasinski, it's just nice to see him in a decent movie as his last effort was last summer's utterly forgettable—License to Wed.
Andy: I've never been much of a Rene Zellweger fan in spite of her several awards and consistent performances. I'm not sure why that is since she is almost always good, and this is no exception. She dives full into the spunky woman making it in a man's world role and nails it. Also refreshing is John Krasinski. It is nice to see him playing something other than Jim from The Office. Though his character is still very likable, he's more animated and obnoxious.
Leatherheads is fun, funny, and formulaic. It neither breaks new ground, nor successfully revitalized the screwball comedy, but it is certainly worth watching and earns a solid B.
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