This month Mill Creek is releasing a couple more of its actor-themed double-feature Blu-rays sets. One of these includes two films starring George Clooney—the 2010 assassin drama The American, and the 2008 football comedy Leatherheads co-starring Renée Zellweger & John Krasinski.
The American (2010)
After his mission in Sweden goes awry, assassin Jack (George Clooney) hides out in a small town in the Italy countryside where he plans to carry out one final assignment for boss Pavel (Johan Leysen). Jack is to procure/
If folks go into this thinking it will be more of an action-packed Bourne film, they will likely be disappointed. The American is a slow burn—for an assassin film, there isn’t a whole lot of action, but rather it is more about setting a tone and vibe, building tension, and exploring how this job has affected Jack, who is ready to call it quits. That said, it does has some exciting and tense moments, particularly whenever Jack senses that he is in danger or being followed, and tries to stay a few steps ahead of those who may be out to kill him. And there are a few jump scares that take advantage of these more tense set-ups. The setting is beautiful, and Clooney gives a really strong dramatic performance (it’s a shame he doesn’t do much work in front of the camera anymore). You really get a sense of the stress this guy is under after all of the years he’s been an assassin, and how he’s honed his skills to sense when he’s in danger or someone may be lying to him, or trying to suss him out. At the same time, he’s grown tired of this life, and is looking for more, finding solace and comfort in the arms of Clara.
The American has a pleasant aesthetic, using wide shots to showcase the beauty of the Italian countryside and the town’s stone streets and buildings, and tighter hand-held shots to add to the tension and put the viewer into some of the more action-packed sequences. The picture is clean and clear throughout with a solid level of detail. The film has a pleasant, warm color palette that captures the beauty of the setting, but also has some more contrasting scenes, such as the bright, monochrome red tones of the brothel. The audio track provides clear dialogue and score, and while there is a general ambiance throughout, there there is hardly any noticeable use of the surround channel. There are some moments where the track shines, such as bullets whizzing across the screen, and a jump scare involving a motorcycle backfiring that sounds more like a bullet.
The American had previously been released on Blu-ray by Universal in 2010. That release had contained a lot of bonus material, including a director commentary, an 11-minute behind-the-scenes featurettem and 6 minutes of deleted scenes. Unfortunately, none of this material has been ported over to Mill Creek’s double-feature release, likely due to space constraints after putting two films on one disc.
Leatherheads (2008)
In 1925, professional football team the Duluth Bulldogs is quite good at the game, even if its players are a little offbeat and strange. However, they are having trouble filling the stands. Many other teams have already started to fold for the same reason, and it looks like time may soon be up for the Bulldogs as well. However, quarterback Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) hears a radio report about how forty-thousand fans have come out to see Princeton war hero Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) aka “The Bullet” play at his college football game, and Dodge gets an idea. He wants to recruit the college football hero to play for the Bulldogs in order to save his team. But he’s first going to have to convince Carter’s manager, CC Frazier (Jonathan Pryce).
At the same time, ambitious, strong-willed Tribune reporter Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) makes an arrangement with her boss. In exchange for becoming assistant editor, she agrees to do a story revealing the truth behind Carter’s well-publicized war hero story that earned him the Medal of Honor. It turns out that another solider (Max Casella) has come to the paper with accusations that the story was completely made up. So Lexie begins to follow the team, reporting on their games, while hoping to get close enough to Carter to get him to admit the truth about what really happened on the battlefield. However, the more time she spends with the star player, the less desire she has to write the story. Meanwhile, as Dodge pursues the reporter, he can’t help but get a little jealous of how the young football hero steals Lexie’s attention, and outshines him on the field.
Leatherheads is a fun period comedy/drama that does an excellent job of transporting the viewer back to the roaring 20s with big band music, speakeasys and other madcap humor as this misfit band of leatherheads takes to the football field at a time when the rules of the game were mostly just suggestions. The film really shines in these football sequences, and I kind of wish it had focused on that for the entire film, making it more of a misfit underdog sports comedy. The tone and vibe of the first half of the film is really fun, moving swiftly and at a manic comedic pace, sometimes going for the completely absurd and cartoonish to get a laugh—such as Dodge and Lexie dressing up as cops to escape a raid on a speakeasy, and leaping from a window as the fire department tries to talk down a jumper.
However, things slow down slightly in the second half as the film focuses more on the college war hero story, whether or not it was a lie, and the potential fallout should the truth come out. While I enjoyed the film overall, it kind of overstays its welcome by the end, building to a bit of an anticlimactic conclusion. The film runs almost two hours and probably could have been edited down. That said, the main cast is really enjoyable, with Clooney playing double-duty as the film’s director, Zellweger playing this fun, strong, independent women, and Krasinski playing the young wide-eyed hero who just enjoys playing the game. Clooney and Zellweger have great chemistry—the first time we see their characters on screen together there is this hilarious banter between them, but Lexie quickly makes it clear that this was just a moment, and it doesn’t mean they suddenly have a relationship. The cast is filled out with many other fun character actors, such as the incomparable Stephen Root as a reporter who’s really just Dodge’s mouthpiece, and several other familiar faces as the Bulldogs players.
Mill Creek’s Blu-ray features a very strong picture, which remains clean and clear, with an excellent level of detail throughout. The color palette feels evocative of the era, and shines with the bright blue and red uniforms on the field. Even as the players get muddy, the level of detail is fantastic. The audio track is also quite impressive, provides an immersive feeling throughout, no matter what the setting—in a train, on the football field, in a speakeasy, etc. It particularly shows its strengths during a stormy scene when the downpour fills the room, and during the flashback battle shots when bullets and explosions can be heard all around. The film’s dialogue remains clear throughout, and the score/soundtrack sounds great.
Leatherheads had previously been released on Blu-ray by Universal in 2008. That release had contained a lot of bonus material, including an audio/picture-in-picture commentary track, as well as a second picture-in-picture track providing interactive behind-the-scenes footage and cast/crew interviews. Unfortunately, none of this material has been ported over to Mill Creek’s double-feature release, likely due to space constraints after putting two films on one disc.
Both films reside on a single Blu-ray disc, which has a basic menu with a subtitle on/off option and a play button for each of the two movies. There is no slipcover or digital copy included with this release. None of the bonus material from Universal’s previous releases of these titles has been carried over
What’s Included:
Films:
- The American (2010) (1:44:49)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Leatherheads (2008) (1:53:39)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
-
This release contains no bonus material.
Final Thoughts:
I didn’t realize how much I missed George Clooney’s performances until I checked out this double-feature release. He’s a solid actor, delivering both on the drama and comedy (though this pairing of films makes for a slightly odd double-feature). While I enjoyed both films overall, they aren’t ones that I see myself revisiting often. The pace of The American is a bit slow—I prefer a more action-packed spy film, and Leatherheads sets up a fun premise and recreates the era wonderfully, but runs a bit long for a comedy. Mill Creek’s new Blu-ray release features solid picture and sound, but loses all of the bonus material that had been included on Universal’s previous individual releases of these films. Fans who already own the original releases will have no reason to double-dip on this double-feature. But those not interested in bonus material may find this double-feature to be a more convenient (and shelf space-saving) pick-up.
GEORGE CLOONEY DOUBLE FEATURE BD
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