Column: ‘Leatherheads’ is as fun as NFL
April 8, 2008
“Leatherheads” works on so many levels that it not only entertains — it delights. Backed not only by a strong script (penned by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly) and very strong acting (George Clooney and Renée Zellweger), “Leatherheads” offers much more than just entertainment: it offers a bleak yet accurate commentary on today’s professional football.
Set in the prohibition era of the 1920s, “Leatherheads” tells the story of the budding yet sloppy professional football league. Back then, the pro leagues looked much more like the XFL than the NFL (think of George Clooney as “He Hate Me”). The game in those days had no rules, no fans and no income. All of those changed, however, with the introduction of big shot Carter “The Bullet” Rutherford (John “Jim from the Office” Krasinski). As Rutherford’s career skyrocketed, the league that Dodge Connelly (played by Clooney) and his fellow players started, began to change.
However, following in Penny Marshall’s classic “A League of Their Own,” “Leatherheads” focuses much less on the game as it does the players and the system to which they belong. Clooney makes himself as a believable veteran of the “old-fashioned” player, while Krasinski plays the perfect model of the upper crust, regulated era of football. The contrast between the two works well, and the addition of Renee Zellweger as the romantic interest for the pair of gentlemen only engages the audience further into the plot.
Strong acting, a strong script and strong camera work aside, the beauty of Clooney’s “Leatherheads” lies in the blatant, yet obvious comparison to today’s football. While the film tags itself as a look into pro-football before it’s prime, we as an audience see many comparisons to today’s game. We, too, have an increasing control from the commissioner, a strong comparison between genius and farce, as well as a national image we hope not to exploit. For as much as “Leatherheads” claims to be a look at the past, Clooney does a great job of subliminally comparing the sport to the present.
It is for that reason that “Leatherheads,” behind its humorous and comical rhetoric, is a great movie. While the audience looks at the actions of both Dodge Connelly and Carter Rutherford, we see comparisons to Terrell Owens and Tom Brady. While the film reluctantly comments about the aspect of change, the viewers see no difference between the three-ring circus on field as we do in today’s NFL. “Leatherheads” truly hones in on the oblivious, yet hints towards comparisons between today and yesteryear’s football world.
As much as “Leatherheads” is quirky and comical, it also resounds throughout a large group of fans who aren’t immune to the “celebrity” of professional sports. “Leatherheads,” while not a cinematic giant like Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck,” resounds as both a creative, yet hilarious look at today’s game.
Though many may deem “Leatherheads” a nostalgic sports film, it scores a touchdown amongst both critics and fans.
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