Leatherheads

2008 American film

Leatherheads

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| George Clooney
Written by| Duncan Brantley
Rick Reilly
Produced by|

* Grant Heslov
* Casey Silver

Starring|

* George Clooney
* Renée Zellweger
* John Krasinski
* Jonathan Pryce

Cinematography| Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by| Stephen Mirrione
Music by| Randy Newman

Production
companies

Smokehouse Pictures
Casey Silver Productions
Mirage Enterprises

Distributed by| Universal Pictures

Release date

* April 4, 2008 (2008-04-04)

Running time

| 114 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $58 million[1]
Box office| $41.3 million[1]

Leatherheads is a 2008 American sports comedy film from Universal Pictures directed by and starring George Clooney. The film also stars Renée Zellweger, Jonathan Pryce, and John Krasinski and focuses on the early years of professional American football. The film was released on April 4, 2008. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed just $41 million against its $58 million budget.

## Plot

[edit]

In 1925, Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly is captain and veteran of the Duluth Bulldogs, a struggling professional American football team. With pro football on the brink of collapse, Dodge is determined to save it. He convinces Princeton University's football star, Carter "the Bullet" Rutherford, to join the Bulldogs, hoping to capitalize on Carter's fame as a decorated hero of the First World War. As a result, football prospers.

Chicago Tribune newspaper reporter Lexie Littleton has been assigned to find proof that Carter's war heroics are bogus. However, she soon finds herself in a love triangle with Dodge and Carter. One night, Carter confesses that the German army platoon surrendered to him by mistake. Carter soon discovers Lexie's agenda, and that she and Dodge shared a kiss. The ensuing fight over Lexie's affections puts her off. Spurred on by the threats of Carter's manager, she decides to publish the story.

The story sparks a firestorm of accusations and reprimands. Carter's manager resorts to shady dealing to cover it up, even bribing the original witness to change his story. Dodge's attempts to legitimize pro football take on a life of their own. The new commissioner of football appointed by the U.S. Congress, formalizes the game's rules, taking away improvisational antics. In addition, the commissioner takes the responsibility of clearing up the Carter controversy to set an example for the new direction of football.

With the whole world against Lexie, Dodge concocts a ruse; interrupting a private hearing in the commissioner's office, Dodge threatens Carter with a confrontation by his old army comrades. Dodge claims that they are just outside the door, ready to congratulate him for his heroic actions. In truth, the men are Bulldogs in borrowed army uniforms. Carter confesses the truth and the commissioner frees Lexie from printing a retraction. Carter is ordered to simply say he got too much credit for his war actions, but must give a hefty part of his paycheck to the American Legion. Carter's conniving manager is banned from football as well. Dodge is warned that if he pulls any old tricks to win the next game, he will lose his place in the league.

Dodge plays in one last game, also against Carter, who has changed sides from Duluth to Chicago. The rivalry for Lexie's affection spills onto the field. The game does not go well for Dodge, who decides football should be played without rules. Lexie notices that after a brawl, Dodge is missing and with most players covered in mud, no one can tell who is who. There appears to be an interception and Chicago seems to have won, but when the mud is removed it is seen that the player is none other than Dodge, who disguised himself as a Chicago player on the play. The play is changed to a touchdown, and the Bulldogs win.

Carter tells Dodge that Dodge is finished playing football and he intends to tell the newspapers the real story about his "capture" of the German soldiers. Dodge argues that the United States needs heroes; Dodge and Carter part on good terms once again.

After the game, Dodge meets up with Lexie and they ride into the sunset on Dodge's motorbike together. During the end credits, pictures show Dodge and Lexie getting married, Carter donating $10,000 to the American Legion, and Carter's former manager with new clients Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

## Real-life basis

[edit]

In an interview on the Late Show with David Letterman, Clooney mentioned the plot is loosely based on the life and antics of Johnny 'Blood' McNally. Clooney later explained that "We wanted to call them the Eskimos, but because we were drinking in the movie, the NFL said we couldn't use the actual names."[2] The Canton Bulldogs was the first successful pro football team, which is why the Professional Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio.[citation needed]

## Cast

[edit]

* George Clooney as Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly
* Renée Zellweger as Lexie Littleton
* John Krasinski as Carter Rutherford
* Jonathan Pryce as CC Frazier
* Peter Gerety as Commissioner Pete Harpin
* Jack Thompson as Harvey
* Stephen Root as Suds
* Wayne Duvall as Coach Frank Ferguson
* Keith Loneker as Big Gus
* Robert Baker as Stump
* Matt Bushell as Curly
* Malcolm Goodwin as Bakes
* Tim Griffin as Ralph
* Tommy Hinkley as Hardleg
* Nick Paonessa as Zoom
* Max Casella as Mack Steiner
* Mike O'Malley as Mickey
* Heather Goldenhersh as Belinda / Flapper
* Nick Bourdages as Bug
* Jeremy Ratchford as Eddie
* Alex Via as Scoreboard Keeper
* Cody Froelich as Scoreboard Keeper
* Bill Roberson as Mr. Dunn
* Blake Clark as Chicago Referee
* Marian Seldes as Clerk
* Ledisi Young as Blues Singer (performed song "The Man I Love")

## Production

[edit]

Leatherheads began filming on February 12, 2007.[3] Filming locations mainly included locations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, upstate South Carolina around Anderson, Greenville, Ware Shoals, Greer and Travelers Rest, as well as Boiling Springs and western North Carolina around Statesville, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, specifically at Hanes Middle School and the Winston-Salem Millennium Center. Additional train scenes were filmed in the Winston-Salem suburb of Tobaccoville, specifically in the community of Donnaha.[citation needed]

The crew and cast headquarters during the Winston-Salem scenes were based in the nearby town of East Bend, in Yadkin County, North Carolina. The football game scenes at the beginning and at the end of the picture were filmed at Memorial Stadium, near Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina,[4] with technical advisor T.J. Troup "teaching them the intricacies of 1920s football so that they look and sound like real players of the era."[5]

Train scenes were filmed at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina and The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN. Filming wrapped in mid-May 2007. After initially being set for release in December 2007, the studio moved the release date to April 4, 2008.

On March 24, George Clooney and Renée Zellweger premiered the film in Maysville, Kentucky, birthplace of Clooney's father and aunt, Nick Clooney and Rosemary Clooney. Clooney and Zellweger visited Duluth to promote the film.[6]

The piano player bent over the tack piano with eyes glued to music is the composer of the original music in this film, Oscar-winning songwriter Randy Newman. The George and Ira Gershwin song "The Man I Love" is sung in the film but the song was not extant in 1925. It was "part of the 1927 score for the Gershwin antiwar musical satire Strike Up the Band".[citation needed]

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office

[edit]

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $12.6 million in 2,769 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking No. 3 at the box office behind the second weekend of 21 and fellow newcomer Nim's Island,[7] below the expectations of Universal Studios.[8] Viewers in their 50s to 80s were the main audience for the film.[8] As of October 2013, the movie had made about $31.2 million from the United States and Canada and $10.1 million from other markets making a global total of $41.3 million. The budget for the film was $58 million.[1]

### Critical response

[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 170 reviews, with an average rating of 5.81/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Despite a good premise and strong cast, this pro football romcom is half screwball and half fumble."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on scale of A+ to F.[11]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: "Leatherheads is most on its game when it's in the game, and in the zone of Clooney's no-bull affection for the faces of his actors."[12] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Clooney, the film's director and star, can't make up his mind how to approach the story. One minute it's a romantic comedy. Then it switches to slapstick, then to screwball comedy before sliding into Frank Capra territory."[13] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote: "Arch and funny in equal measure, this looks like a theatrical non-starter that Clooney fans and football devotees might be tempted to check out down the line on DVD or on the tube."[14]

## Writing credits

[edit]

In 2007, a Writers Guild of America arbitration vote decided not to award Clooney a screen credit for the film, preferring to credit only the original writers, longtime Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly and his former magazine colleague, Duncan Brantley. In response to the WGA's ruling, Clooney resigned his full WGA status to go "financial core" within the guild, meaning that while still technically a member, he only has limited rights.[citation needed] While he did not contest the ruling of the WGA, Clooney said that he did not want to exclude Brantley and Reilly, agreeing that they deserved the first position credit for their work, but felt that his "major overhaul" of the 17-year-old script to turn it into a screwball comedy left only two of the original scenes intact.[citation needed]

Co-producer Grant Heslov stated that he thought the guild "made the wrong decision," saying, "This script that Duncan and Rick wrote sat languid until after we finished Good Night, and Good Luck... George liked Leatherheads but said it never felt quite right. He took it to Italy with him, and I remember when he called to say he thought he'd solved it. One thing that you clearly see, if you read the original, the subsequent drafts and then his draft, is that he wrote the majority of the film... We both thought Duncan and Rick would get first position credit, which they deserved. But this wasn't right."[15]

Paul Attanasio also did uncredited re-writes on the film prior to Clooney taking over.[16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Leatherheads". Box Office Mojo.
2. ^ Kelleher, Bob (2008-03-24). "Hundred of fans welcome Clooney, Zellweger to Duluth". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
3. ^ "Box office business for Leatherheads". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
4. ^ "Filming locations for Leatherheads". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
5. ^ "CHFF on the set of Leatherheads", Cold, Hard Football Facts; retrieved 2010-11-09.
6. ^ "Clooney, Zellweger promote movie in Duluth". WDIO.com. Associated Press. 2008-03-24. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
7. ^ "Leatherheads (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
8. ^ a b "'21' stays on top for second weekend in a row". CNN. Associated Press. 2008-04-06. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
9. ^ "Leatherheads". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
10. ^ "Leatherheads (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
11. ^ "LEATHERHEADS (2008) C+". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-02-06.
12. ^ Travers, Peter (4 April 2008). "Leatherheads". Rolling Stone.
13. ^ "Leatherheads". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 March 2008.
14. ^ McCarthy, Todd (28 March 2008). "Leatherheads". Variety.
15. ^ Michael Fleming (2008-04-03). "WGA, Clooney at odds over credit". Variety. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
16. ^ "Paul Attanasio Bio". iMDB.

## External links

[edit]

* Leatherheads at IMDb
* Leatherheads at Box Office Mojo
* Leatherheads at AllMovie

* v
* t
* e

George Clooney

* Filmography
* Awards and nominations

Films directed|

* Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
* Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
* Leatherheads (2008)
* The Ides of March (2011)
* The Monuments Men (2014)
* Suburbicon (2017)
* The Midnight Sky (2020)
* The Tender Bar (2021)
* The Boys in the Boat (2023)

Related articles|

* Section Eight Productions
* Smokehouse Pictures
* The Sentry
* Casamigos

* v
* t
* e

Duluth Kelleys-Eskimos

* Defunct National Football League club 1923–27
* Based in Duluth, Minnesota

Franchise|

* History
* Orange/Newark Tornadoes

Stadium|

* Athletic Park

Lore|

* Duluth Hardware Kellys
* Leatherheads
* 10% Owners of the Minnesota Vikings
* Ties to the Washington Redskins

Head coaches|

* Sternaman
* Scanlon
* Nevers

Owners|

* Ole Haugsrud

Seasons|

* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

Other|

* MusicBrainz release group

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