Leave it to George Clooney to make a football movie that actually looks good to people like me. And by people like me, I mean people with no interest in American football whatsoever (I attend Super Bowl parties exclusively for the 7-layer dip). Yahoo! is hosting the trailer for Leatherheads, Clooney’s much-anticipated directorial follow-up to Good Night, and Good Luck, and the romantic sports comedy looks like the most appealing football flick — particularly for women and also guys like me — ever produced.

Part of the appeal for me, though, is those old uniforms, which bring me back (cinematicaly — I’m not that old) to the football fields of Horse Feathers, Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman and that famous still of Ronald Reagan from Knute Rockne All American. Then, of course, there’s the appeal of Clooney in old-timey clothes, ala O Brother Where Art Thou? Considering how much Clooney resembles Cary Grant in both appearance and acting style, it’s no wonder that I prefer him in stories that take him back to periods in which Grant was a big star. Okay, so Leatherheads is actually set in the 1920s, before Grant and his silly accent made it to the big screen, but I’m willing to ignore that little historical inaccuracy (just as the Coen Bros. ignored a lot of historical fact with O Brother). Had sound films come about earlier than they had, Cary Grant could have been wooed by Hollywood much sooner than he was.

Hopefully, Clooney can both make up for the screwball-comedy missteps of Intolerable Cruelty and help us to not hate Renee Zellweger, in addition to his making football accessible to pansies like me. Such a task would certainly be worthy of another nomination for the directing Oscar.

Here’s what some other bloggers think:

• Katey at Cinema Blend: “I have very mixed feelings about Renee Zellweger, but I trust her to do just fine here. If the trailer is any indication, the movie is mostly about the football and the macho rivalry anyway. So hey, it won’t be The Philadelphia Story, but the trailer made me laugh.”
• I Watch Stuff: “Considering the uproarious love triangle story line, Clooney probably just saw Sabrina and thought it would be better with the sensibilities of O Brother, Where Art Thou? And football. Added props for having his gentlemanly referee replicate Stephen Tobolowky’s punch reaction from Groundhog Day flawlessly.”
• Sean at Film Junk: “although I’m not a huge fan of football movies, this looks like something entirely original and unique. Plus, at this point I’ll follow George Clooney pretty much anywhere he goes.”
• Chris at Movie Marketing Madness: “The trailer is fast-paced and funny. Krasinski looks like he’s having fun and Clooney is, well, Clooney. He’s a funny guy and that’s in full effect here. Zellweger does what she can.”