On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 59/98 |
David Mumpower |
Quality performances cannot overcome a deadly dull script. This is a textbook example of thinking star power will fix everything. |
| 140/196 |
Max Braden |
Too slow, and doesn't really create the atmosphere of the time that The Natural and A League of Their Own did. |
It's not particularly fair that George Clooney should get to be so talented. An Oscar-winning actor and multiple "Sexiest Man Alive" award winner, he's decided he wants to be a top-notch director, too. Starring in several of Steven Soderbergh and Coen Brothers films has apparently been his crash course in directing greatness, culminating in his Oscar nomination for Good Night, and Good Luck two years ago. His follow-up project, Leatherheads, is something a little less ambitious than that, but then again, Soderbergh's made three Ocean's Eleven films.
A romantic comedy set in the world of 1920s pro football, it's also set to be one of the first big theatrical starring roles for The Office's John Krasinski. He plays a straight-laced college QB lured into the then struggling and ill-considered pro ranks by team owner Clooney. Sparks fire when a reporter, played by Renee Zellweger, starts to cover the team, and both Krasinski and Clooney vie for her attention. And with Clooney controlling the fate of his rival, he must choose between love and his team – well, maybe he could get both!
Writing the script with Soderbergh and a few other notable names, including Sports llustrated's Rick Reilly, Clooney is looking to hearken back to the days of screwball comedies. He's got a bit of direct experience in front of the camera with these, notably O Brother Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty, so we'll get to see here how much he's learned in his craft. (Reagen Sulewski/BOP)
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