LEATHERHEADS (2008)

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‘Leatherheads’ stars George Clooney as ‘Dodge’ Connelly, a supposed football star in a failing team, he has to hatch a plan to try and save his team’s season when they run out of money. To try and save his team George Clooney enlists national war hero and football star Carter Rutherford played by John Krasniski to help. Things get even more complicated when Lexie Littleton, ajournalist, played Renee Zellwegger starts to play closer attention to the two.As the PG certificate suggests this film is more harshless fun than a passionate romance. There is nothing to risque and a lot of the dialogue tends to be playful banter rather than meaningful words. Despite the PG certificate this film is not at all suited for the younger audience. The sharp wit and humour would be wasted on a younger audience who would be left with puzzled expressions. However, for me there is not enough of it in this film. The chilidish tactics employed by the team may abuse a younger audience and I thought they were not necessary in this film.I went to Leatherheads expecting lively funny banter between the characters and for around the first half of the movie that was the case. The dialogue between George Clooney and Renne Zellwegger is excellent but there is not enough of it in the second half of the movie. The humour turns into slapstick which most of the time is not that funny and not really the kind of humour I was expecting during Leatherheads. Moreover, there was too much going on to keep track as the film meandered around without much happening.This is of course a double role for George Clooney in this film. While his acting performance is good and loveable as always, the directing severly lets the film down which is not surprisingly considering this is only the third film he has directed. The idea of the film is good and some of the dialogue is good but there is simply not enough. The editing is poor and some of the directing seems lazy and unprofessional which is unusual in Hollywood film.Overall, Leatherheads was not as good as I expected. The hype and box office success suggested much more than the film has. However, while George Clooney’s directing is poor his acting along with Renee Zellwegger is excellent. There is sharp wit but also a lot of slapstick which for me is overused and ruins the film at times. If there was more of the witty banter and less slapstick then it would have been fantastic. Ultimately, I would still recommend going to see the film I am just left a little disappointed because it could have been a lot better.

Chris

(http://www.scene4u.com)

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