Newsflash!!! LEATHERHEADS never reaches full potential!

LEATHERHEADS marks the third directorial offering of Mr. George Clooney. The first being the spastic "CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND" followed by the outstanding "GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK". If CONFESSIONS was the weird brother and GOODNIGHT was the good looking brother, LEATHERHEADS would be the brother who thinks he's funnier than he really is but we appreciate him anyway.

The movie plays like a football team just falling short of the winning touchdown. It's a strong heartfelt effort peppered with snappy wordplay and quick wit that never truly finds it's footing.

George Clooney stars as Dodge Connelly, an aging pro footballer trying to save his beloved league from financial demise. Clooney channels the ghostly legends of comics past like Chaplin, the Three Stooges, and Groucho Marx to bring his wildly oddball character to life.

John Krasinski (prankster Jim from THE OFFICE) plays the young famous future of football, Carter Rutherford. Dodge Connelly rides Carter's fame in elevating pro football in 1925 out of the farm fields of Duluth into massive stadiums. Krasinski handles the old school humour and golden heart his character portrays excellently.

The sub-plot revolves around Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellwegger), a smart-mouthed sharp-as-a-whip reporter of the Chicago Tribune, sent to uncover Carter's questionable past that led to his fame. Namely, Carter's agent's (played by the cunningly evil Jonathan Pryce) story about how Carter convinced a platoon of German soldiers during WWI with a few short words. (POST-SCRIPT: The flashback about what those words were is pure comedy gold!)

LEATHERHEADS will pratfall against your funny bone in parts while others will be an ol' stick-in-the-mud. Anyone familiar with 1920's style comedy will find this flick somewhat cliche but it's still a fun movie with some pacing problems. A worthwhile offering for the beginning of the Spring/Summer Ranking Season.

7.2 Bar-room Brawls out of 10