Leatherheads wants to be the Major League of 1920s pro football and, in some sense, it does succeed. It does produce laughs, it has a blast being set in the time period, and the writing is sharp. It’s the focus on such a small number of characters that flatlines it into mediocrity.
George Clooney, John Krasinski, and Renee Zellweger star in this football movie. Apparently, they’re the only people that matter to all of pro football. Zellweger is the reporter assigned to find out the truth behind Krasinski’s overdone WWI story as he enters into pro football. Clooney is the aging star, nearing the end of his career as the game passes him by right when Zellweger enters his life.
The interplay between these three characters is entertaining. Dialogue is always loaded with wit, funny comebacks, and clever zingers. Aside from the physical hijinks, it’s the dialogue that sells the era to the audience.
On the field, the football sequences are legitimately funny, although less so as the film moves on. Leatherheads feels like a comedy that should be loaded with quirky, funny, and likeable characters. Aside from Keith Loneker, almost none of the other players are given names or even screen time. It’s as if they don’t exist, and that means all of the in-game action needs to focus on two players. This leads to an amusing if contrived finale that exists purely due to a lack of character development.
As with other sports comedies like Major League or Slap Shot, the romance dilutes much of the humor. Despite some fun interactions among the starring cast, the pacing is thrown off by the contrived romance. It sends the film nearly to the two-hour mark, and many of the scenes involving Kasinkski, Clooney, and Zellweger could have (actually, should have) been trimmed. The entertainment value simply isn’t there.
Since there are so few films that deal with this era of pro football (and the term “pro” is tossed around loosely), Leatherheads does manage to feel different and unique enough to warrant its creation. Its sense of style nicely mimics that of the time while updating it, but the characters aren’t deep enough to make this well-rounded. If one of the three stars turns you off from the start, the entire movie is ruined as it has nothing to fall back on. 
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