Seen on: April 5, 2008

The players: Director: George Clooney, Writers: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly, Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski, Wayne Duvall, Jonathan Pryce

Facts of interest: None.

The plot: Clooney stars as a football coach who hires a World War I hero and college football star to save his team from financial disaster.

Our thoughts: According to IMDB, George Clooney watched tons of screwball comedies in preparation for his latest directorial effort, but my guess is he didn’t watch enough. Despite a promising trailer, an interesting premise and an A-list cast, “Leatherheads” ends up missing its mark. The film even failed to score the top spot at the box office during opening weekend, which is quite unusual for a mainstream Clooney flick.

Set during the 1920s, “Leatherheads” follows football coach Dodge Connolly (Clooney) as he struggles to save his professional team from financial disaster. In order to boost the popularity of his team and secure some much-needed wins, Connolly hires Carter Rutherford (Krasinski), a World War I hero and college football star. Everything goes according to plan until they both fall for the charming Lexie Littleton (Zellweger), a persistent reporter who’s on a mission to uncover the real truth about Carter’s heroic career.

With a better script, “Leatherheads” may have been a better movie. Boasting a lame script by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, the film quite simply lacks innovation. Nothing really happens during the 114-minute running time, and the few scenes that have enough potential to capture the audience’s attention are too boring to get excited about. Clooney obviously wanted to pay tribute to the screwball comedy genre, but his film is just too old-fashioned. The plot picks up some pace once the players hit the field and play football in the mud, but even these sequences are rare and not particularly compelling.

What’s more, the chemistry between the main actors is quite simply not convincing enough. Clooney’s efforts are obvious and he certainly had a fabulous time filming “Leatherheads,” but I found it difficult to share his enthusiasm. Renee Zellweger usually offers fantastic performances, but here she’s rather annoying. Her character lacks personality, and the script fails to supply her with enough catchy lines to show off her talent. John Krasinski has that arrogant smile he puts on throughout the film, but his performance almost goes unnoticed.

Freaky quote: "You're the kind of cocktail that comes on like sugar but gives you a kick in the head.” – George Clooney

The final word: Clooney’s previous directorial efforts – “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” and “Good Night and Good Luck” – managed to win over critics, but failed to cash in at the box office. “Leatherheads” was supposed to turn it all around, but it tried so unsuccessfully. The film didn’t storm the box office, and the critics’ reviews are not exactly encouraging either. I appreciate George Clooney for the work he’s doing and really like him as an actor and director, which is why I am not really worried about this faux pas. The man was just recently nominated for an Oscar. He’ll be fine.