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Draft Day
Imaginative direction and a terrific ensemble cast are the main selling points of a glossy comedy-drama called Draft Day that takes an up close and personal look at an aspect of professional football that is of paramount interest to anyone involved in the NFL, but I don't think has ever been addressed on film before.
The 2014 film stars Oscar winner Kevin Costner as Sonny Weaver Jr., the general manager of the Cleveland Browns, who took over the job after firing his father from the job. The draft is coming up and Sonny has been afforded the opportunity to get the hottest quarterback in the country, Bo Callahan, as a first round draft pick. As word spreads of Sonny's good fortune, internal investigations reveal that Callahan is not the guy Sonny thinks he is and that choosing him for a first round draft pick could be a huge mistake.
There are other mini-dramas surrounding the central one, including a running back named Vonte Mack (the late Chadwick Boseman) who has been pursuing his dream of being a Cleveland Brown for years to Sonny's distraction; a running back named Ray Jennings, whose past might keep him from being a draft pick, the revelation that Sonny's co-worker and girlfriend (Jennifer Garner) is pregnant, and Sonny's mother (Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn) who wants Sonny to drop everything he's doing so that he can spread his father's ashes over the field.
The draft is an aspect of the NFL that really hasn't been addressed on the big screen before and screenwriters Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph deserve credit for this earnest look at this little addressed aspect of the game. There are a few holes in the plot that this reviewer couldn't get past: The previous relationship between Sonny and Vonte Mack is established early on but not explained in a way that made what we saw happen between them make sense. More importantly, it is never really explained what Bo Callahan was hiding, outside of the fact that his college teammates didn't show up to his 21st birthday party.
The other thing works here is the stylish and imaginative direction of the late Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) who gives this story a real Capra-esque quality with his attention to the setting of the film, which is actually every US city with a pro football team and making sure that the viewer knows where we are at all times, including absolutely gorgeous shots of all of the major football stadiums. Reitman also scores with his updating of the classic split screen technique, that sometimes moves when it should and moves when it shouldn't and the pictures actually cross the lines at time, allowing the viewer to watch one character slam down a phone and see the reaction of the person receiving the slam.
Costner gives another of his patented Jimmy Stewart turns, which quietly anchors the proceedings and is provided solid support from Denis Leary as Coach Penn and the fabulous Frank Langella as the Browns' owner. Sharp eyes will also catch appearances from Timothy Simons, Stephen Root, Terry Crews, Rosanna Arquette, Anthony Rizzo, Deion Sanders, Chris Berman, and Sam Elliott. There's a slow spot here and there, but Costner and company make it worth your time.
Imaginative direction and a terrific ensemble cast are the main selling points of a glossy comedy-drama called Draft Day that takes an up close and personal look at an aspect of professional football that is of paramount interest to anyone involved in the NFL, but I don't think has ever been addressed on film before.
The 2014 film stars Oscar winner Kevin Costner as Sonny Weaver Jr., the general manager of the Cleveland Browns, who took over the job after firing his father from the job. The draft is coming up and Sonny has been afforded the opportunity to get the hottest quarterback in the country, Bo Callahan, as a first round draft pick. As word spreads of Sonny's good fortune, internal investigations reveal that Callahan is not the guy Sonny thinks he is and that choosing him for a first round draft pick could be a huge mistake.
There are other mini-dramas surrounding the central one, including a running back named Vonte Mack (the late Chadwick Boseman) who has been pursuing his dream of being a Cleveland Brown for years to Sonny's distraction; a running back named Ray Jennings, whose past might keep him from being a draft pick, the revelation that Sonny's co-worker and girlfriend (Jennifer Garner) is pregnant, and Sonny's mother (Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn) who wants Sonny to drop everything he's doing so that he can spread his father's ashes over the field.
The draft is an aspect of the NFL that really hasn't been addressed on the big screen before and screenwriters Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph deserve credit for this earnest look at this little addressed aspect of the game. There are a few holes in the plot that this reviewer couldn't get past: The previous relationship between Sonny and Vonte Mack is established early on but not explained in a way that made what we saw happen between them make sense. More importantly, it is never really explained what Bo Callahan was hiding, outside of the fact that his college teammates didn't show up to his 21st birthday party.
The other thing works here is the stylish and imaginative direction of the late Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) who gives this story a real Capra-esque quality with his attention to the setting of the film, which is actually every US city with a pro football team and making sure that the viewer knows where we are at all times, including absolutely gorgeous shots of all of the major football stadiums. Reitman also scores with his updating of the classic split screen technique, that sometimes moves when it should and moves when it shouldn't and the pictures actually cross the lines at time, allowing the viewer to watch one character slam down a phone and see the reaction of the person receiving the slam.
Costner gives another of his patented Jimmy Stewart turns, which quietly anchors the proceedings and is provided solid support from Denis Leary as Coach Penn and the fabulous Frank Langella as the Browns' owner. Sharp eyes will also catch appearances from Timothy Simons, Stephen Root, Terry Crews, Rosanna Arquette, Anthony Rizzo, Deion Sanders, Chris Berman, and Sam Elliott. There's a slow spot here and there, but Costner and company make it worth your time.