Universal Pictures with Smoke House and Casey Silver Productions present a PG-13 rated romantic sports drama/comedy film directed by George Clooney and starring George Clooney (Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly), Renee Zellweger (Lexie Littleton), John Krasinski (Carter Rutherford), Jonathan Pryce (CC Frazier) with Malcolm Goodwin (Bakes), Matt Bushell (Curly), Tommy Hinkley (Hardleg), Tim Griffin (Ralph), Robert Baker (Stump), Nick Paonessa (Zoom), Nicholas Bourdages (Bug), Stephen Root (Suds), Mark Teich (Joe), Christian Stolte (Pete), Jack Thompson (Harvey), Max Casella (Mack Steiner), Keith Loneker (Big Gus) and Peter Gerety (Commissioner Pete Harkin).
In the opening over the sounds of the song, "where's that tiger" a football team plays amongst it's fans during the year 1925. In the beginning the sport had no rules and most young athletes start playing in college football games, later branching out to pro. Dodge plays for the Duluth Bulldogs, which explains of course their mascot. Carter, a well known and loved by all war hero is about to play for Princeton. That is until Dodge gets faced with a cold reality check for his team and needs a savior. Bottom line in sports, no sponsorship, no money, which means no team. Without the funds to pay for salaries, transportation, including fields, the Bulldog's are sent packing back into the mines and a world of skilled labor. Albeit, until Dodge comes up with the perfect scheme.
Carter spells fans which will deliver money which will help his Bulldogs survive and stay together as a team. Dodge, sets up a meeting looking all dapper and sophisticated in his 1920's fashions with CC Frazier, the backer behind Carter, along with a beautiful blonde, Lexie, who sits in during part of their discussions, out for the perfect story within a story. Lexie, has an ulterior motive as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, which is to fancy up to Carter and expose the truth behind how he actually became such a loved war hero. Carter during war with the Germans single handedly got a group of the enemy to surrender to his comrades. Or did he? Lexie, a tough talker with a set of legs is out to uncover the truth behind this man in order to advance her own career in a world dominated by men. Overall, at five thousand dollars per game for Carter and a percentage taken off the top for CC, the deal is a touchdown which eventually brings new equipment, new fields, a new look along with plenty of fans packing the stands. At 75 cents per adult head and 25 cents for under twelve, the money started rolling in.
Along the way of seducing Carter for the truth, he falls for Lexie as does another player, Dodge. The chemistry between Zellweger and Clooney is a bright light mixed into a somewhat slow moving story which lacked a bit of that old team spirit especially by Krasinski. The love/hate banter between the two major leads was extremely well executed making you feel the sexual tension between the two. Although some of the slapstick especially during suicide Johnny was a bit silly. As an audience member, you can see where Clooney was trying to go with the moment, back into the days of the keystone cops. The kiss, the lips, the cinematography all help to lend a hand into the beauty of the story adding to the backdrop of underdeveloped supporting characters but well spotlighted major ones.
In the end, when Lexie's story breaks, the battle once again begins but this time off the field with a few different players, one being the new sports commissioner, bringing along with him a new set of rules to the game making the sport finally official and clean. Truth be told and the results are in for everyone leading up to an end game between Chicago and Duluth. Thanks to Sergeant York, brought to the field by Dodge, once again victory is accomplished behind enemy lines, leaving a nice ride for two off into the sunset.
Even though the story moved a bit slow at times containing a little less football action than expected and a lot more conversation between the characters, I still enjoyed this period piece depicted in the 20's. The hair, make-up and fashions along with an appropriate score were a pleasure to the eyes and ears making you feel the sense of what was should once again be. Clooney, a pleasure to watch on the screen, brings a sense of the old brat pack of the good old days, laced with a charisma only he can pull off. Delivering his lines with perfection and directing a wonderful story should once again shine favorably upon him during the Academy Awards. As for Zellweger, I've always liked her as an actor and she superbly plays well opposite Clooney. Krasinski, although a bit blank in his expressions was sufficient to his role. The writing was brilliant when involving the main characters but lacked some in hopes of getting to know a bit more about the supporting team. Overall, the film is a delight to watch thanks to the cast but the length could be just a bit shorter or at least filled with getting to know the other players and their quirks. I don't see this film making blockbuster figures past its opening weekend but it should do well enough when brought to DVD, if for any other reason than the love of one of America's favorite sports, football.
Reporting for Talkin' Pets, I'm Jon Patch.