LEATHERHEADS : a failed dig at screwball comedy
iView Author: rusted rick (Kolkata, India)
EMAIL: ritchick.mozumdar [at] gmail [dot] com
Title: LEATHERHEADS (2008) : a failed dig at screwball comedy
I remember those days from my childhood, those warm summer afternoons when it was too hot to even put your feet outside. Summer vacations were on and stuck at home I had nothing to do all afternoon but get bored until its was 5 o’clock and I was finally permitted to go outside and play.
Well not being of the habit of sleeping on afternoons ever, I used to sit and watch films with my uncle, who by that time was a retired unmarried man. Every time he went on tour abroad he used to bring home these video cassettes of Hollywood films. Mostly classic Hollywood blockbusters, dramas and comedies. They had the most beautiful looking actors, with perfectly shaven face and curled hair, deep beautiful voices. The films had simplistic storyline with very little or almost no underlying meanings, no gyaan or intellectuality. You could sit through them for two hours and absolutely forget everything about them by the end of the day. There were wonderful afternoons with films like CASABLANCA, REAR WINDOW and those adorable comedies popularly termed as screwball comics like the films of FRANK CAPRA, buster Keaton. Films starring CARY GRANT, JAMES STEWART and all those Hollywood big shots from that time. The present day films lack these happy go lucky feel of the oldies and maybe that’s not a bad thing, maybe it wouldn’t feel nice if films like that were made now. They just wouldn’t be the same. The success of these films lie in their charm and that is very much embedded within the time frame of those 1940’s. Though I would love to see someone attempt a dig onto this genre of screwball comics, it could be rather interesting to see someone not trying to do a parody on these films but making a genuine attempt in creating the magic of these old Hollywood studio films.
So when George Clooney came out with LEATHERHEADS this year I was rather excited, after all Clooney has an impeccable record as a director and unlike some of the recent trend of people bashing him, me and my girlfriend both happen to find him brilliant. So this Sunday afternoon my girlfriend and I sat down, coke and popcorn in hand to watch LEATHEHEADS.
To be very honest with myself, LEATHERHEADS is not a bad film at all. It is done with utmost honesty and respect for the genre it is paying tribute to, its very evident of the creators love and understanding of screwball comedy. CLOONEY creates the perfect environment for the story, he chooses actors who are both good looking and talented, the film is shot mostly in beautiful bright sunlight giving it a nice warm summer feel. And the editing is done intelligently keeping in mind not to ruin the actor’s comic timings. But the one department CLOONEY fails and fails miserably is the script.
Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly (George Clooney) is the team captain of the Bulldogs in the struggling pro football league in 1925. The entire pro football league is in danger of collapsing, one team at a time, and his team is next. Dodge gets an idea of saving the team by recruiting a college football star who fills the college stadium with over 45,000 cheering fans. With the lure of big money, Dodge is able to convince Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) to drop out of college and join the team. Carter is not only a star football player who can outrun his completion, but he is also a national war hero of WWI who single-handedly captured a platoon of German soldiers. Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) is a newspaper journalist assigned to get Carter’s real inside story about the capture of the German soldiers. To get the story, Lexie must travel with the team, and in time, both Carter and Dodge fall for her. Only one will win her love as the fourth quarter comes to an end.
All this might have sounded perfect on paper, but unfortunately the complete film is just not funny, there is a lack of those care free laughs and whimsical romance that made those films of the 40’s so entertaining to watch. Though the actors make up a lot of the weaknesses with their charm, at the end of the day it was just not enough to keep the viewers attention.
I once read that you never wanted to sit too close to a ballet performance. Something about not wanting to prick the fantastic bubble of the performance by hearing the thuds of the dancers’ feet or the grunts of the lifts. This movie is like that…all strain and good intentions, handsome actors, nice sets, but it thuds through its paces rather than gallops like the original Galloping Ghost, Red Grange, who the movie is loosely based on.
Watch LEATHERHEADS if you are a CLOONEY fan at least this is better than BATMAN AND ROBIN. As for me, I feel this was a nice experiment but I would rather go and remove the dust from one of my FRANK CAPRA films and watch it again.
Tags: buster Keaton, CARY GRANT, CASABLANCA, Frank Capra, George Clooney, JAMES STEWART, John Krasinski, REAR WINDOW, Renee Zellweger, World Cinema
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Geroge clooney is undoubtedly one of the best. Havent watched this movie. Your writing made me feel must to watch this…:) nice write up.
@ZIA
thanks
do watch it but without expectations
i remember loving the trailer when i watched it.. the dvd doesn’t release til sept, but will def watch it then.. mostly for clooney