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CNN Live Today
Interview With Russ Leatherman, "Mr. Moviefone"
Aired February 20, 2004 - 10:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY ROMANO, ACTOR: I'm running for the mayor of Mooseport. Yeah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he losing his mind?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: "Welcome to Mooseport" has Gene Hackman as a U.S. president defeated for re-election and running for the mayor in his hometown. Review of that and other movies opening today, from "Mr. Moviefone," Russ Leatherman in Los Angeles. Good morning. Happy Friday to you, Russ.
RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Happy Friday. "Welcome to Mooseport." I sort of feel like screaming just like Ray Romano did.
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, there are people who have done that on the campaign trail already we've seen.
LEATHERMAN: Well, this is Ray Romano, one of my favorite actors of all-time, certainly one of the biggest men on TV, makes his big screen jump in "Welcome to Mooseport." That's Gene Hackman right there. He plays an ex-president who moves to the little town of Mooseport and runs for mayor against Ray Romano, who is the local plumber.
Now, the interesting thing about this movie is it is Ray Romano's jump to the big screen. And the bad news is that the movie's really bad. But the good news is, we'll probably see him on television next year, because TV is clearly his bag.
It's like the movie camera sort of sucked the funny right out of him. It was a lame script, sort of a lame story, and I was just really disappointed, because I love him so much.
SAVIDGE: It seemed like a great concept. But all right, I guess it didn't work out too well. "Against the Ropes." Meg Ryan. Let's talk about that one there. This one -- from comedy to serious.
LEATHERMAN: Well, it is Meg Ryan, she's starring with Omar Epps right there. She plays a boxing manager, one of the only women to enter the man's world of boxing. And this is a movie that we've seen many, many times before. Bits and pieces of this movie really come from every other boxing movie. I swear I never really thought I'd be looking forward to "Rocky 9" after seeing this movie, but I really am. The problem with the movie is, it's really an "Erin Brockovich" sort of ripoff, she's playing the Erin Brockovich character only in a boxing world, and we've just sort of seen it all before. So she's really trying to get her career together. I sort of wish she'd just go back to the romantic comedies, the things we know her best for and really love her for.
SAVIDGE: All right. Moving on, "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen." The interesting thing about the young actress in this movie -- you know, she was great in "Parent Trap," takes time off, then comes back, does "Freaky Friday," a surprise smash hit, and now she's back on the big screen again.
LEATHERMAN: She is. Lindsay Lohan is really one of the hot young actresses. "Freaky Friday" was a terrific movie, with Jamie Lee Curtis, from last year.
In this movie, she plays a New York girl whose mother drags her to the suburbs in New Jersey, and she discovers that at the new school there's a drama queen that's even more popular than she is, so there's a fight for that and a fight for the local man. And the interesting thing about this movie is I was watching it and discovering that I have absolutely no right or ability to judge a movie that's made specifically for 15-year-old girls.
So here's what I did. I watched the movie, and I asked a 15- year-old girl what she thought of it, and she said it was "totally awesome."
SAVIDGE: I like to hear you do your research, Russ.
LEATHERMAN: Well, you know what, that's all you can do, right? Because this movie is made specifically for this audience. They seem to like it. So if you're a 15-year-old girl, you're going to like this movie.
SAVIDGE: Last -- almost out of time here. "Euro Trip," this is not to be confused with "National Lampoon's European Vacation," right?
LEATHERMAN: No, it's definitely not. It's really a redo of last year's movie, "Road Trip." And there is a lot of foul humor, naked people, and exactly what 18, 19-year-old boys are looking for. So if you're up for crude humor and a lot of nudity, this is probably a decent move to check out.
SAVIDGE: OK, Russ Leatherman, as always, thanks for your tips. We look forward to it every Friday. We'll see you again.
LEATHERMAN: Have a great weekend. See you next time.
SAVIDGE: You too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 20, 2004 - 10:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY ROMANO, ACTOR: I'm running for the mayor of Mooseport. Yeah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he losing his mind?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: "Welcome to Mooseport" has Gene Hackman as a U.S. president defeated for re-election and running for the mayor in his hometown. Review of that and other movies opening today, from "Mr. Moviefone," Russ Leatherman in Los Angeles. Good morning. Happy Friday to you, Russ.
RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Happy Friday. "Welcome to Mooseport." I sort of feel like screaming just like Ray Romano did.
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, there are people who have done that on the campaign trail already we've seen.
LEATHERMAN: Well, this is Ray Romano, one of my favorite actors of all-time, certainly one of the biggest men on TV, makes his big screen jump in "Welcome to Mooseport." That's Gene Hackman right there. He plays an ex-president who moves to the little town of Mooseport and runs for mayor against Ray Romano, who is the local plumber.
Now, the interesting thing about this movie is it is Ray Romano's jump to the big screen. And the bad news is that the movie's really bad. But the good news is, we'll probably see him on television next year, because TV is clearly his bag.
It's like the movie camera sort of sucked the funny right out of him. It was a lame script, sort of a lame story, and I was just really disappointed, because I love him so much.
SAVIDGE: It seemed like a great concept. But all right, I guess it didn't work out too well. "Against the Ropes." Meg Ryan. Let's talk about that one there. This one -- from comedy to serious.
LEATHERMAN: Well, it is Meg Ryan, she's starring with Omar Epps right there. She plays a boxing manager, one of the only women to enter the man's world of boxing. And this is a movie that we've seen many, many times before. Bits and pieces of this movie really come from every other boxing movie. I swear I never really thought I'd be looking forward to "Rocky 9" after seeing this movie, but I really am. The problem with the movie is, it's really an "Erin Brockovich" sort of ripoff, she's playing the Erin Brockovich character only in a boxing world, and we've just sort of seen it all before. So she's really trying to get her career together. I sort of wish she'd just go back to the romantic comedies, the things we know her best for and really love her for.
SAVIDGE: All right. Moving on, "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen." The interesting thing about the young actress in this movie -- you know, she was great in "Parent Trap," takes time off, then comes back, does "Freaky Friday," a surprise smash hit, and now she's back on the big screen again.
LEATHERMAN: She is. Lindsay Lohan is really one of the hot young actresses. "Freaky Friday" was a terrific movie, with Jamie Lee Curtis, from last year.
In this movie, she plays a New York girl whose mother drags her to the suburbs in New Jersey, and she discovers that at the new school there's a drama queen that's even more popular than she is, so there's a fight for that and a fight for the local man. And the interesting thing about this movie is I was watching it and discovering that I have absolutely no right or ability to judge a movie that's made specifically for 15-year-old girls.
So here's what I did. I watched the movie, and I asked a 15- year-old girl what she thought of it, and she said it was "totally awesome."
SAVIDGE: I like to hear you do your research, Russ.
LEATHERMAN: Well, you know what, that's all you can do, right? Because this movie is made specifically for this audience. They seem to like it. So if you're a 15-year-old girl, you're going to like this movie.
SAVIDGE: Last -- almost out of time here. "Euro Trip," this is not to be confused with "National Lampoon's European Vacation," right?
LEATHERMAN: No, it's definitely not. It's really a redo of last year's movie, "Road Trip." And there is a lot of foul humor, naked people, and exactly what 18, 19-year-old boys are looking for. So if you're up for crude humor and a lot of nudity, this is probably a decent move to check out.
SAVIDGE: OK, Russ Leatherman, as always, thanks for your tips. We look forward to it every Friday. We'll see you again.
LEATHERMAN: Have a great weekend. See you next time.
SAVIDGE: You too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
