Rating: 7/10

Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski

Plot: Dodge Connelly (Clooney), an over-the-hill pro football player convinces college hotshot and war hero Carter Rutherford (Krasinski) to play for the disastrous Duluth Bulldogs. Both men soon fall for a two-sided journalist (Zellweger).

The good: “Leatherheads” takes the early days of unregulated professional football and sets up the perfect backdrop for a zany comedy that pays homage to the vagrants that made pro ball so fun.

“Putting the pig in the poke,” “crusty bobs” and knock-out punches were all acceptable on the field and encouraged. Football was a man’s game with violence and alcohol, not endorsement deals.

Clooney is perfect in this movie as the charismatic lead and he gets the best out of all of his co-stars. Zellwegger, who is usually intolerable, opens her eyes just enough to trade one-liners and keep up with Clooney. The dialogue between the two is fast-paced and delivered like a scene between Jack Lemmon and Shriley MacLaine.

It’s also nice to see Krasinki step out from his comfortable realm, Jim Halpert, and actually be convincing as America’s favorite son. He has his moments in the film, including an impromptu fight with Clooney, but when you’re acting alongside someone like Clooney, it’s kind of hard to make an impact.

The film blasts through the mid 20’s and contains everything you would expect: speakeasy’s, uproarious jazz music montages and those sepia-toned pictures that you would find in the opening to “Cheers.” Clooney’s nod to the decade of the flapper, and a phonographic score by Randy Newman only elevates the film’s questionable, but nonetheless fun, historical accuracy.

The bad: “Leatherheads” has some awkward moments. In all of the present day inspirational sports movies, the team members each have a unique role. There’s usually the poor guy, the fat guy, the emotionally abused guy and the guy who hates football. In this film, none of the other players are really given screen time, or an identity.

Now that’s not all that bad, entirely, because we get more of Clooney floating through lines like, “You’re only as old as the woman you feel.” But the movie is about the origins of professional football, not the origins of Zellwegger’s Botox injections.

And when thinking of screwball comedies, what comes to mind? Classics from Billy Wilder and Mel Brooks are the definition of screwball comedies because they actually contain oodles and oodles of screwball humor. Clooney tries to go down the same route, but often at times the jokes are too subtle to encourage an audience reaction.

The lowdown: “Leatherheads” is a sports comedy, a history lesson and a romance all compiled into one. Clooney has proven once again why he’s Hollywood’s favorite leading man and an Academy Award-nominated director. In laymen’s terms, the film scores a touchdown, but unfortunately misses the attempt for an extra point.