Rated PG-13 brief strong language.
Directed by George Clooney (Good Night and Good Luck)
Starring George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Root, Ezra Buzzington, John Vance, Dan John Miller
Leatherheads is fun surprise.
A romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America's up-and-coming pro-football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly (George Clooney), a charming, brash football hero, is determined to guide his team from farm fields to packed stadiums. But the team loses their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces college football star and WWI war hero, Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes this will save the struggling sport, but he soon questions the whole thing.
The dialogue is fast-paced, witty and very clever, reminding me of O Brother Where Art Thou. A lot like that movie, the characters are completely flawed but very likable, and although there aren’t a lot of your typical laugh out-loud scenes, the subtle humor was pretty funny. All that being said, the story and pace slow down too many times to tell a “morality” tale. Unfortunately morality is in short supply.
The biggest nuisance of the film was the music. I can take about 3 minutes of those 20’s speak-easy tunes, so when I’m 30 minutes in and the one song soundtrack is still playing, I was reaching for the remote and hitting the mute button.
It’s not the best romantic comedy ever, but definitely worth a rental.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Aside from some language, there is nothing offensive.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
