Football Movie Madness #3: Leatherheads
Today’s film selection brings us a George Clooney-directed old-timey screwball comedy, just with modern actors. Much like with Good Night and Good Luck, Clooney emulates the film’s time period, except this time it involves lots of sepia-toned shots and slapstick chase scenes that aren’t even that funny. You could tell right from the beginning – kids were smoking, prohibition was in full force, and we saw a college football game set to a rendition of “Tiger Rag” that didn’t even involve any cussing – this is football in the 1920’s, folks!
Overall, the movie was only so-so. I didn’t ever believe John Krasinski’s character had a chance in the film’s focal love triangle, and I never bought any of that silly comedy.I think more than anything I was a bit sad the Duluth portrayed in the movie wasn’t more… Duluth-y. How early did this season manage to finish that there was no snow in Duluth or Chicago, really?
The football was also only OK. The final game takes place on a field so muddy that Clooney’s team wins thanks to team jerseys no one can tell apart. Again, it was more about the physical comedy than creating any drama, but did they really let players go out there without a cup even 90 years ago?
Basically, if I wanted some of the fun old-fashioned football jokes in Leatherheads, I could have saved myself a great deal of time and just re-watched this clip from SNL earlier this season: http://www.hulu.com/watch/55596/saturday-night-live-nfl-films
