Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

            Stop the presses! Cary Grant has returned from the grave, only to possess George Clooney’s body and resume his acting career. His latest effort, Leatherheads, proves that the bygone star hasn’t lost his taste for classy comedy or his knack for the perfectly delivered punch line.

            Okay, so I can’t prove that Grant has taken over Clooney’s body, but the film certainly evokes a sense of nostalgia. Actually, for most of the folks reading this, I’m sure it doesn’t, as most of you likely never saw any the films he made as they came to theaters. Those that have enjoyed his films on DVD, however, will recognize a certain flair in Leatherheads that you will undoubtedly enjoy. Clooney hits every double entendre perfectly, and his leading lady, Oscar winner Renee Zellweger, comes across well as Lexie Littleton, the sassy reporter from Chicago sent to write an expose on a young football star. That star, Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski, The Office), is a war hero and college boy, so popular that he revolutionizes the sport when Clooney convinces him to play in the downtrodden pro leagues back in the 1920’s.

            Hold the phone though folks! This may look like a football movie, but I say it’s a newspaper picture in disguise. What many may not recognize is that the style of humor inherent to this film is something older, perhaps even better, than the mindless drivel of sight gags and fart jokes to which they have grown accustomed. If you don’t have active brain cells, avoid Leatherheads, as your own head might explode trying to decipher the jokes. No, dear readers, they don’t make them like this anymore, and it’s a crying shame.

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            After Dodge Connelley (George Clooney), dirtiest player in the pros and star of the Duluth Bulldogs, convinces Rutherford to play, the professional sport picks up steam and fans. Littleton has been sent to dig up the dirt on the hero, who has been sold as a genuine war hero to the American public following World War I. Seems that thirty Germans didn’t surrender to him just because they were intimidated by the sound of his booming, manly voice. It turns out, it was all a misunderstanding and the press just sold it that way because we all love a hero. Likeable and good-looking, he’s more than a footballer or American hero, he’s now also a pitchman for shaving cream! When the true story breaks, no one wants to believe it, Littleton’s reputation is on the line, and Rutherford’s agent demands an apology and retraction from the Chicago Tribune. By this point, congress steps in and appoints a commissioner to professional football, both to look into the matter and clean up the sport’s image.

            Speakeasies and wool suits abound in the movie, and Clooney, who directed the film, is really delivering more than just a love letter to a bygone era of the sport he loves so well. Leatherheads is a subversive meditation not on what has become of football, but of the media. The film really argues that there was a time when the news had the bravery to stand up and expose false heroes for what they were. That there was a time when the dirty tricks were left on the football field and integrity was found in the daily paper instead. After Rutherford transfers to Chicago, Connelly, ever the rebel, returns the questionable antics to the mud-drenched field in the windy city where they belongs. Lexie Littleton, by now his main squeeze, keeps her good name and goes on to be one hell of a sports writer. All in all, it is a great film for fans of His Girl Friday, and those that miss the director’s politics will likely still get a kick out of all the hard-nosed football action on the field.