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Nice Leatherheads
With George Clooney's Leatherheads opening on April 4th, I'm feeling a bit of an atmosphere going on. It's like you're at a game and the coach from the opposing team has called 'time out' and the whole team is huddling by the sidelines and you're wondering "what, did somebody forget to study the plays?" I've been at this racket for nearly 30 years, and I know what a vibe of slight trepidation feels like. It's as distinct as the smell of mustard as you walk by one of those hot-dog wagons in Manhattan.
So I talked to a reputable guy who saw it last weekend at a junket screening, and his sum-up tag was "pretty bland." Aww, come on!, I said. Don't! Ease up! But the guy wouldn't listen. "A few moments that make you smile, some that make you grimace," he said. Jesus, man...stick it in and break it off.
"Most of the latter come courtesy of Renee Zellweger, miscast as the kind of Barbara Stanwyck dame that gives as good as she gets," he said. "No Stanwyck she. Zellweger also isn't aging particularly well, and I would imagine that this will be her swan song as a romantic lead.
"That said, director-star Clooney makes this cutesy, old-timey enterprise watchable," he concluded. "But for a movie that is supposed to be about a bunch of eye-gouging, manly men, the last of a breed playing a game that's about to leap into the big-time, Leatherheads is awfully polite. Too much so to work as anything but a niiiice valentine to a bygone era."
When Universal decided early last October to bump Leatherheads out of its 12.7.07 slot and give it a 4.8.08 opening instead, I said to myself, "This might mean something." But I didn't want it to have problems because I'm as much of a Clooney kiss-ass as the next guy (i.e., like him, love his interview patter, admire his taste in movies as an actor-producer-director) and I wanted it to work so I put it out of my mind.
I could see from the trailer later on that Clooney was trying for some kind of 1930s semi-screwball vibe out of the Howard Hawks manual -- Ball of Fire meets Knute Rockne, All-American, something like that.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 17, 2008 at 2:37 PM
comment #1
actionman
says ...
I really hope this is a fun romp. That's all I expect. That's all I want from it.
Posted by actionman
at March 17, 2008 4:10 PM
comment #2
Edward
says ...
I bet there aren't any fart jokes; that might make it a must see.
Posted by Edward
at March 17, 2008 4:26 PM
comment #3
Alfredo
says ...
The original script penned by sportswrtier Rick Reilly kicked around at Universal for years until Clooney had the ah-ha moment that it should be THE PHILADELPHIA STORY with football.
Posted by Alfredo
at March 17, 2008 4:40 PM
comment #4
MilkMan
says ...
I think I'll pass, stay at home and watch North Dallas Forty.
P.S. I saw Rennee Z. walking on Montana Ave about three months ago and I'll be damned if she didn't look a day over 49 years old. Still has great legs and a great ass, though.
Posted by MilkMan
at March 17, 2008 4:43 PM
comment #5
Balthazar
says ...
I just can't work up any enthusiasm at all for this film. Knowing Reilly had a hand in it doesn't help. ESPN's Bill Simmons recently had a piece in which he claims there are a grand total of two classic sports movies the past 10 years -- Rounders and Friday Night Lights. .. I might quibble on a couple others belonging in there, but his point is well made. The sports film genre is in a godawful rut.
Posted by Balthazar
at March 17, 2008 4:44 PM
comment #6
D.Z.
says ...
Zellweger wasn't that hot in the first place. But if she hadn't settled for supporting roles, she might have been bigger.
Posted by D.Z.
at March 17, 2008 4:59 PM
comment #7
Craptastic
says ...
Renee needs to lay off the Sour Patch Kids
Posted by Craptastic
at March 17, 2008 5:00 PM
comment #8
MilkMan
says ...
I was very resistant to Friday Night Lights until I saw it about two months ago on cable. I was by myself. I had a shitty day at work. I was feeling very vulnerable. That moment near the end of the movie, where Lucas Black looks at his teammates in the huddle and tells them that he loves them while Explosions in the Sky is crescendoing in the background...that's when I decided that I liked it. Not as much as North Dallas Forty, but almost.
Posted by MilkMan
at March 17, 2008 5:00 PM
comment #9
Balthazar
says ...
Two other good flicks -- not quite classics -- come to mind from last 10 years. ... For Love of the Game makes it about 80 percent of the way toward completing the Ultimate Costner Baseball Hat Trick. Ironically, it's the on-field action that lets the film down, somewhat. Also, Invincible is a solid film that acknowledges its own cliched nature but simply tries to be the best film it can while honoring its Rocky-esque roots. It's too well made and too fun to be considered disappointing. Classic? Probably not. But it works. (And I admit part of the reason why it works for me is that I'm an Eagles fan)
Posted by Balthazar
at March 17, 2008 5:18 PM
comment #10
MilkMan
says ...
When I was a pre-teen I watched Fast Break almost every day for an entire summer. I was a huge Bernard King fan, not to mention that my Uncle was and still is a dead ringer for Gabe Kaplan, pre-nose job.
Does Animalympics count as a sports movie?
BTW: BEST SPORTS MOVIE EVER: ZIDANE. SEE IT.
Posted by MilkMan
at March 17, 2008 5:28 PM
comment #11
Josh Massey
says ...
Rocky Balboa was the best sports movie in 10 years.
Posted by Josh Massey
at March 17, 2008 5:32 PM
comment #12
corey3rd
says ...
doesn't help that the ads feature the same NFL voice who is now associated with the Chunky Soup ads. It's like you expect Clooney's mom to come out to the huddle with bowls for the boys.
Posted by corey3rd
at March 17, 2008 5:36 PM
comment #13
BurmaShave
says ...
D.Z.. Stop. Think. Breathe. Stop Breathing.
Posted by BurmaShave
at March 17, 2008 5:40 PM
comment #14
actionman
says ...
Friday Night Lights is the best recent sports film that I can think of.
Eight Men Out, White Men Can't Jump, Field of Dreams, Slap Shot, Cobb (yes, Cobb), and Rudy are some of my other favorites.
Posted by actionman
at March 17, 2008 6:07 PM
comment #15
Arizona Joe
says ...
Pete Rose's father played in a southern Ohio leatherhead league, and those guys were not hoity toity Phildadelphia Story types. They were really tough, nasty guys. This film seems like a contrivance, with a lot of disparate ideas and too many chefs.
It's hard to believe a mediocrity like Rick Reilly gets paid. It's less about sports and mostly about his self-aggrandizement.
"North Dallas Forty" was just about right, and is under-appreciated. "Semi-Tough" should be remade, as the great novel it was, political incorrectness and all.
In the book, Defensive End TJ Lambert was born semi-mean, lived with a mad dog, took a dump in the closet, and expelled flatulence in colors. That's how things really are.
More Dan Jenkins less Rick Reilly.
Posted by Arizona Joe
at March 17, 2008 6:19 PM
comment #16
Mr. Blood Vessel
says ...
..Most of the latter come courtesy of Renee Zellweger, miscast as the kind of Barbara Stanwyck dame..
a fact so incredibly obvious by even the stand up cardboard cut out seen in theaters.
how and why did she get cast is beyond me.
and john krasinski is not even close.
Posted by Mr. Blood Vessel
at March 17, 2008 7:49 PM
comment #17
rr3333
says ...
It's hard to believe a mediocrity like Rick Reilly gets paid. It's less about sports and mostly about his self-aggrandizement.
~~~~
Rick Reilly gets paid a KINGS RANSOM!
He's a somewhat entertaining read. Nothing more. Nothing Less. Mediocrity.
Bill Simmons blows Reilly out of the water.
Posted by rr3333
at March 17, 2008 8:46 PM
comment #18
candice208
says ...
it is very interesting!
Posted by candice208
at March 18, 2008 1:28 AM
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