Review

Review Date: 6-April-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Leatherheads (2008)

I seem to have praised a movie's old-time setting more than once recently, which makes me wonder how much that does or should affect my appreciation. I have always had a jones for the past, so watching or reading a story that takes place before even 20 years ago holds particular interest. And now that I think about it, I do not believe this interest should be downplayed. If cinema is escapism, a movie that immerses a viewer in a lost or unfamiliar world has already begun to accomplish its goal. When the characters look, talk, and use technology in bygone ways, it feels like you are getting more for your buck because of the research that went into the film. Then there is the enjoyment of seeing actors we know from tabloids and blockbusters shed their modern guises (if they can handle it, which not everybody can). This enjoyment partially explains why contemporary movies set in the past have a distinct appeal from movies actually made in the past.

The 1920s, '30s, and '40s make for a particularly fine setting, what with dramatic social upheaval, theatrical music, and costumes unrivaled in chicness. (I grasp the emotion of a heaving bosom but prefer a mid-length skirt and sassy bob any day.) Which finally leads me to the subject of "Leatherheads," George Clooney's romantic comedy set in the 1920s. This picture is simply steeped in historical charm.

Since he is often compared favorably to vintage movie stars, it makes sense that Clooney directs himself as protagonist Dodge Connelly, a promoter and veteran athlete in the sickly sport of pro football. As the wry opening reveals, Americans after the Great War loved their college games but paid no attention to men trying to make a living on the gridiron. After having to forfeit a game because they lost their one ball and cancel others due to a diminishing number of teams, Dodge sets his sights on Ivy League golden boy Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), figuring that a celebrity will draw the crowds. A celebrity will also sell a lot of newspapers, which is why Chicago reporter Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) goes gunning for Carter simultaneously.

Lexie's motives are more sinister as she aims to prove that Carter's legendary heroics during the war were fabricated. Like all Hollywood newswomen of the era — that is another asset of movies set during this time: stylistic mimicry — she has a sharp tongue and killer legs and inspires men to dream of making an honest woman out of her. (Of course Dodge is her match in verbal sparring. He defends himself for taking a floozy on a date by saying, "You're only as young as the women you feel.") After Dodge convinces Carter to join their team, rivalry grows between the grizzled older man and the shiny younger one, both on the field and in Lexie's presence. While not exactly original, the setup is snappy enough to let the actors gain yards.

The action becomes fuddled in the final quarter as tensions boil over into betrayals and such. There is no rooting for the greedy mogul pulling the strings (Jonathan Pryce), but it is not clear among the principals where our sympathies are supposed to lie, so mine were spread confusedly about. It is also not clear how much we or Dodge should mourn the passing of his sport into an age of rules and mammoth stadiums in which the key players look like matinee idols and hawk hair oil on the side. Even so, "Leatherheads" fosters a nostalgia that is almost an end in itself. A country healing its wounds, a national pastime leaving the nest, love blooming in a speakeasy where a woman sings "The Man I Love:" these form a vital backdrop for able performers in retro clothes showing how people have sometimes had to give up one thing to gain another in return.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.