Footballers' Lives: Review for "Leatherheads"

Set in prohebition era 1925, Leatherheads stars two of the biggest stars in Hollywood: Renee Zellweger and George Clooney. It also stars John Krasinski, whom you may know from NBC's The Office. Clooney plays a pro football player, Dodge Connelly, during an age where pro football had no rules and almost no audience. the public's eye was on war hero/boy wonder Carter Rutherford, who, it is said, single handedly made a troop of German soldiers surrender. He happens to be a star at his college. He's handsome, a college football player, and a war hero (nicknamed "Bullet"). But Chicago Tribune writer Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) and her superiors suspect that this guy isn't all he's made out to be. Dodge, meanwhile, wants to set up a brand new team. He thinks hiring Carter will bring money and people to his games.Under the public's scrutiny is hard for a kid that young. He fesses up to Lexie one night and she writes all about it. It becomes a big scandal and Carter vehently denies the allegation. Clooney and Zellweger trade funny repartee. At the end, there are rules in football, much the Dodge's dismay. Enjoyable, though not perfect, film. Sports fans will enjoy. The script was written by two writers from Sports Illustrated. Kransinski does much better off in his second film than his first, the turkey called License to Wed.
Grade: B

Cross an "Ocean": Reveiw for "Ocean's Thirteen"

I remember seeing Ocean's Twelve on DVD. It was really bad. I remember all the commercials praising the film. It was not funny. It was not well written. It was arrogant. The sequel to the hit remake of the Rat Pack film, Ocean's Eleven, was a disappointment. Then I saw the trailers for Ocean's Thirteen and looked forward to the film. The scenes of George Clooney crying at the Oprah Winfrey Show and of Al Pacino threatening Clooney are hilarious. It seems that the trailers live up to the actual film. Reuben Tiskoff (Elliot Gould) makes a deal with Willy Bank (Al Pacino) on their brand new casino. Turns out, Reuben is no longer a partner. He's thrown into shock and suffers a heart attack. Danny (George Clooney) and the gang want to bring the Bank down. With great acting, a hilarious story line, and top notch gags, the film lives up to Ocean's Eleven. With only one problem: a scene where Danny and Rusty (Brad Pitt) pollute room 1706, where the casino critic is staying. The scene has each of them doing different tasks with the tools needed. Only that each scene is put on top of each other so it is hard to concentrate on what each is doing. Other than that the film is part of the greatest heist films ever made. Grade: B+