Leatherheads is a fictional story set in the 1920s about the rise of professional football. If you enter the theater with expectations of seeing a real life story, guess again. I am sure there are real world references to the beginning of the professional sport, but I would definitely be at a loss when it comes to spotting them.

Anyway, while this is definitely not a true story, it is definitely entertaining and distinctly different from what generally arrives on our screens these days. This is a movie that you sit and enjoy. While it is not a message movie, it is a movie that attempts to evoke a bygone era in more than one way. There is no denying how much fun this movie is — it is a fascinating experience that shows the potential of mainstream movies; not every film needs to fit into the Hollywood mold. No, it is not particularly groundbreaking, but it doesn't need to be.

The year is 1925, college football is the talk of the town and Princeton star (and war hero) Carter "Bullet" Rutherford (The Office's John Krasinski) is the toast of the town. Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks (so to speak), professional football is floundering, teams are folding and everyone is running out of money, despite the best efforts of aging pro star Dodge Connelly (George Clooney, who also sits in the director's chair). The third piece of the puzzle is an up and coming reporter named Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger), sent to do a piece on Bullet, perhaps exposing his status as a war hero to be a less than truthful.

As our pieces come together, Dodge has an idea. His team has folded and the players have scattered to the winds, yet he holds onto his dream of playing professional ball; this is where that idea comes in. He recognizes Bullet's audience-drawing power and plots to use that to help legitimize the sport. So, off he goes to lure Bullet to leave school and join the professional circuit. At the same time, Lexie arrives to begin work on her story, becoming a sports reporter as a by product. It is only a matter of time before the pieces fall into place, but what does the final picture look like? Watch and find out.