The Frame

Ah, back when pro football was in its infancy, playing with hand-me-down balls and uniforms and players culled from the mines and farms, to which they could easily have to go back when they ran out of money to rent the field for the next game. Clooney plays one of these footballers, trying to create a stable sport out of the only thing he knows how to do. So he convinces college football star and WWI hero Jon Krasinski to go pro and bring some much-needed publicity to his team. Meanwhile, Zellweger is a hotshot reporter trying to uncover the dirt on Krasinski, whose war heroism may be, shall we say, exaggerated. Conflicts break out over her (and can I just say, being fought over by John Krasinski and George Clooney? I have never wanted to be Renee Zellweger more IN MY LIFE) as well as over the way to play football. The film is a very enjoyable throwback to the 1920s-1930s, doesn’t try to be more than it is, and aside from wishing that Zellweger’s strength as a female character hadn’t been eroded in the end, I liked it quite a lot.
Above Average