Leatherheads (2008)

Director:

George Clooney

Writers (WGA):

Duncan Brantley (written by) &
Rick Reilly (written by)

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

In the beginning, the rules were simple. There weren't any.

Plot:

A romantic comedy set in the world of 1920s football, where the owner of a professional team drafts a strait-laced college sensation, only to watch his new coach fall for his fiancée.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Athlete | Coach | Profanity | Flashback Sequence

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

George Clooney	...	Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly
Renée Zellweger	...	Lexie Littleton
John Krasinski	...	Carter Rutherford
Jonathan Pryce	...	C.C. Frazier
Stephen Root	...	Suds
Wayne Duvall	...	Coach Frank Ferguson
Keith Loneker	...	Big Gus Schiller
Malcolm Goodwin	...	Bakes
Matt Bushell	...	Curly
Tommy Hinkley	...	Hardleg
Tim Griffin	...	Ralph
Robert Baker	...	Stump
Nick Paonessa	...	Zoom
Nicholas Bourdages	...	Bug
Jack Thompson	...	Harvey

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

USA:114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:PG | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-11 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Ireland:PG | Germany:6 | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44052)

Filming Locations:

Anderson, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Casey Silver Productions

Trivia:

The script was written back in 1993. The writers brought it to the attention of Steven Soderbergh who then took it to the then president of production at Universal Pictures, Casey Silver. It went into script limbo after Silver left the studio to become an independent producer. Soderbergh then came back and brought Clooney along to make the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just before the police raid the speak easy. Lexie and Dodge are having a drink and Lexie's hand changes position between camera angles. Her hand is up then down and back and forth between camera shots.

Quotes:

Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly: You're only as young as the woman you feel.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-04-05)" (2008)

Well done.

Reading some of the other reviews, maybe people thought this was supposed to be a heavy movie? If so, lighten up. This was (and was supposed to be) a light-hearted movie. And it was pulled off very well. Acting by Clooney, Zellweger, and others captured the spirit of the era, including humor, dress, and scenery.

The plot was not deep but flowed well. Clooney's character, Dodge Connelly, heads up a team in Duluth, and picks up a star college player. Eventually, they end up in Chicago, with Connelly on one side of the ball and the college star on the other. The birth of the modern professional football is woven into the plot. Clooney's age, 46, a bit old for a football player, was not covered up with make-up, but integrated into his character. I think that, in the movie, he was 40 to 45 years old. Zellgeger, as Lexie Littleton, a newspaper reporter who has to find the truth behind the college star's heroic war record, played her part very well too.

Very good directing by Clooney. You definitely felt like you were back in the 20's. Not overdone or underdone. One of those movies you walk out at the end glad that you went.