In 1925, an enterprising pro football player convinces America's too-good-to-be-true college football hero to play for his team and keep the league from going under.In 1925, an enterprising pro football player convinces America's too-good-to-be-true college football hero to play for his team and keep the league from going under.In 1925, an enterprising pro football player convinces America's too-good-to-be-true college football hero to play for his team and keep the league from going under.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations
- Princeton Reporter
- (as David DeVries)
- Princeton Reporter
- (as Craig Harper)
- Curly
- (as Matt Bushell)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFor this role, John Krasinski had to change his usual hairstyle. This hair change was worked into a story on his television show, The Office (2005).
- GoofsIn the scene where they are leaving the commissioner's office, they get in an elevator and push a button to go to the ground floor. All elevators at that time had operators who controlled elevator movement. Push buttons did not come in to use until the 1950's.
- Quotes
Carter Rutherford: Wait. Where were you two?
Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly: Out.
Lexie Littleton: Nowhere.
Carter Rutherford: Did you *kiss* her?
Lexie Littleton: Now wait a minute.
Carter Rutherford: I want answers!
Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly: Yeah, I kissed her! On the mouth, twice! And I liked it. A lot!
Carter Rutherford: Oh you did, did you?
Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly: Yeah!
Lexie Littleton: Thanks.
Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly: You're welcome.
- Crazy creditsPhotographs showing the 'fates' of the main characters appear behind the credits.
- SoundtracksTiger Rag
Written by Harry DeCosta (as Harry Da Costa), Henry Ragas (as H.W. Ragas), Nick LaRocca (as D.J. La Rocca), Larry Shields (as L. Shields), Tony Sbarbaro (as A. Sbarbaro), and Edwin B. Edwards (as E.B. Edwards)
It's (loosely) about Pro Football in the 20's. The message is that the game was rough, poorly-regulated and messy! (No wonder Baseball was America's game!) College players fared better, with fervent fan support and well-tended fields of play -- but after College, great players packed it up and got real jobs (or switched to baseball, I guess). In this story, George Clooney hopes to boost the fortunes of his floundering Toledo Pro team by recruiting a college superstar (and reported war-hero), played by John Krasinski. Renée Z. is the ace reporter dispatched to get the goods on the football hero's military service record.
The film was reminiscent of the 1988 film '8 Men Out' in doing a great job of recreating the look and feel of that era. However, '8 Men Out' was based upon a real life incident and a fabulous book. 'Leatherheads' was a story one IMDb contributor says George Clooney carried around in his pocket for 20 years. So, I'd agree that the storytelling and comedy bits of the screenplay are lacking a bit. However, George does fine as a Director and Performer -- I don't buy that comedy isn't 'his thing' - he was sparkling in 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou' and 'Intolerable Cruelty' (ahhhhh, but those were Coen Brothers scripts, which showed what George could do with a real creative team behind him). Also, it looked like the cast had a hoot making this thing -- to be honest, if the DVD has lots of bloopers and special features, that alone might induce me to pick it up in 2009.
I quite enjoyed the film, but, then, I like period pieces, especially those about the Jazz Age (8 Men Out, Great Gatsby and the Sting are in my Top-20). Nice soundtrack by Randy Newman here, too. This was witty and pleasant to watch. And PG-13 comedies that are NOT about singles dating morons or kids with three dads, or sperm donors (the Previews at our matinée today) are in very short supply these days.
Might add that Renée was quite charming in the manner of a glamor girl of the Jazz Age, with soft blonde hair and strategic use of red lipstick to produce that perfect 'kissy' smile! Pete Gerety, a veteran character player, chips in with a nice spot as a new Football Commissioner. I recognized Gerety as the smooth-talking oil baron 'Lee Janus' in another Clooney project, Syriana.
7/10 - canuckteach
btw: The NFL really didn't get rolling as a major diversion until NFL Films made it a TV legacy in the late 60's. (In the 50's, it was viewed in crummy black and white with those ugly-duckling 4-poster goalposts).
- canuckteach
- Apr 4, 2008
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $58,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $31,373,938
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,682,595
- Apr 6, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $41,319,039
- Runtime1 hour 54 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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