Most of us enjoy a good American football movie: bone-crunching scenes of colossal athletes slamming into each other over a small, leather-bound ball, to the tune of screaming guitar riffs.

It's agreeable stuff over a bowl of popcorn, even though the genre has been beaten to death.

So a movie by George Clooney for George Clooney on the origins of this sport should be relatively fun to watch, even though the era in which it's set makes the use of obligatory music like 'Thunderstruck' impossible.

Although during its early days (circa 1925), the sport hadn't yet reached the high impact levels demanded by fans today, it was still a messy affair where gentlemanly conduct gave way to gentlemanly brawling — without pay.

Enter Clooney as Jimmy 'Dodge' Connolly, a dashing rogue and part-time football player who gets it into his head that his beloved sport could become a professional sport — under the right set of circumstances.

He sets out to enlist a college football star and war hero, Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski of 'The Office'), to help draw the crowds — and money. Along the way he bumps into plucky female sports reporter Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) and sparks and witty verbal sparring ensues.

The fact that Rutherford also has his eyes on Ms Littleton completes the scene for what one hoped would be a delightfully amusing look at the early days of professional football.

Although the leading three actors are all superb, the movie itself ultimately lacks that spunk that you hoped for. It's a suitable rental for a Friday night, but don't expect to be completely wowed by a hidden gem.

Still, watching Zellweger and Clooney's verbal fencing is worth the rental price alone.

Extras:

Don't expect much in the way of special features though, as the few deleted scenes and trailers do little more than make the label not a lie.