Tuesday, April 08, 2008

I'm into leather(heads)

Crap. I was planning to properly review Leatherheads and post an essay last Friday, but life gets in the way. What I would've said, if I was disciplined enough to produce the review on time: George Clooney has been working his way to Leatherheads his whole career. We know he's a matinee idol, we know he's a talented producer and fine director and a great actor, and we know he's got great comic talent. But never has one movie shown us all these things at once. With Leatherheads, Clooney cements his status as the new (old) Warren Beatty: handsome, talented, keen on choosing and making great projects. Suave looks, suave industry acumen. Charisma of Cary Grant with the eye and ambition of Orson Welles. As I said, we've known this, but Leatherheads is visual proof.

It's a great movie: funny, charming, intelligent, sharp, easy-breezy, chugging along on nostalgia and classicism and star wattage. All the characters are named Dodge and Suds and C.C. and Curly, Clooney employs the old Universal logo at the beginning, Randy Newman's score is a fresh ragtime throwback, Zellweger recaptures a tangy '20s dameness (despite her weirdly morphed countenance). Leatherheads has every trait of a quality crowd-pleaser despite its periodness, yet it has performed poorly at the box office. Why? Go see it, dammit.
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6 comments:

  1. Alanna09 April, 2008 14:17

    Admit it: you liked this movie because you want to be a crackerjack 1920s reporter with a trench coat and a fedora.

    ReplyDelete
  2. J.J.09 April, 2008 15:19

    Partly. I liked the movie because I want to be George Clooney.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jamy09 April, 2008 17:37

    I saw it already, geez!

    Hmm...I think I want to be George Clooney too! Not sure what that says about me or Renee Zellweger.

    ReplyDelete
  4. is that so wrong?11 April, 2008 12:09

    The title of this post makes me think:
    --"I'm looking for something that says, 'Dad likes leather.'"
    --"You mean leatherdaddy?"
    --"Is there such a thing?!"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous13 April, 2008 03:58

    Hey Dan it's Christi! Leatherheads is about Duluth, MN where my dad lives. oh and my grandma. oh and my uncle. its kinda cool I guess. Tom is watching me type this. come to new york! bring Nikki.
    Love,
    Christi

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous22 April, 2008 17:04

    You don't know me, but I enjoy your blog.
    I was excited about the movie, like all the actors, and generally love period pieces, but I found the movie kind of boring and wouldn't recommend it. I feel similarly about Miss Pettigew Lives for a Day. Maybe I just don't like that kind of humor.

    ReplyDelete

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