MOVIE OF THE WEEK (4/11/14):DRAFT DAY
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Burstyn, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Chadwick Boseman, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Griffin Newman, Terry Crews, Arian Foster, Josh Pence, Patrick St. Espirit, Tom Welling and Chi McBride
WRITER(S): Scott Rothman & Rajiv Joseph
DIRECTOR(S): Ivan Reitman
WEB SITE: http://draftdaythemovie.com/
60 SECOND PLOT SYNOPSIS (OR AS CLOSE TO IT AS ONE CAN TRY TO MAKE): Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) is a man living in a tough situation. No, that's not because his father, a legendary coach who he also fired, died a week ago; it's because the start of the biggest annual off-the-field event in sport – the NFL Draft – is starting today. Further complicating matters, Sonny is the general manager of one of the most tortured franchises in professional sports, the Cleveland Browns.
Asked by his owner (Frank Langella) to "make a splash," Sonny gets a chance to fall into his lap when the Seattle Seahawks general manager (Patrick St. Espirit) offers him a chance at the no. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft. But there's a catch: Sonny has to give up his team's first round pick ... And again next year ... And again the year after that. After debating the deal, Sonny agrees, which pleases his owner ... But drives his new team leader, Super Bowl champion Coach Penn (Denis Leary) and his team's salary cap specialist Ali (Jennifer Garner) – who he also happens to be sleeping with – nuts. The move also doesn't sit well with Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman), an Ohio State linebacker who is doing everything in his power – including contacting Sonny on his cell phone despite not being given the number – or Brian Drew (Tom Welling), Cleveland's incumbent starting quarterback who is full of promise ... And really bad knees. At least the nervous intern Rick (Griffin Newman) has Sonny's back ...
Now with the no. 1 pick in his possession, Sonny has his sights set on the consensus no. 1 prospect, Wisconsin quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence). And while Bo's agent Chris (Sean 'Diddy' Combs) is quite happy to talk to Sonny, Sonny has a feeling something might not just be right despite all the evidence to the contrary. But whatever Sonny decides to do, he better hurry up and figure it out ... His mother (Ellen Burstyn) is coming by to talk to her son and she does NOT plan on waiting until after Draft Day.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST?: Cleveland Browns fans, Kevin Costner fans, Jennifer Garner fans, people who like seeing a woman in a role of power in a sports movie, people with no knowledge of how the NFL scouting process works.
WHO WON'T – OR SHOULDN'T – LIKE THIS FILM?: Jacksonville Jaguars fans, Seattle Seahawks fans, anyone with real knowledge of how the NFL draft works, people who hate when a romantic subplot is forced into a story where it doesn't feel natural
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? Much like the poor Browns, Draft Day has some promise, but is more of a pretender than a true contender – especially in the pantheon of classic sports movies.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT? If you have zero knowledge of the NFL, the NFL Draft and/or at least have never even played a season of franchise mode in the über-popular Madden video game franchise, you might walk away from Draft Day thinking you've learned a lot about how the NFL draft really works. Well, as someone with real knowledge of that process, that's like someone who plays fantasy football saying they could be a NFL general manager.
Because much like that statement – and many a bad draft in fantasy or real football – Draft Day take a little bit of truth and stretches it out waaaaay past any point of validity in hopes of delivering a passable, entertaining experience.
Even if you were to throw away the ridiculous, non-realistic football business aspects depicted in the film, Draft Day suffers from trying to be too many things – romantic comedy, sports movie, family drama, one man's personal quest – to too many people, save for Browns fans that will take hope even if it's cinematic. Costner is the best thing in the film by far, delivering his lines with conviction to make them as non-cheesy as they are on paper. Garner does her best Julia Roberts impression as the strong female presence to make Ali as engaging as possible, but her character feels forced into the script further mucking up a film that doesn't commit to any one thing. Much like an athlete that could have been a really good player if not for their rap career/clothing line/acting career, Draft Day gets bogged down by trying to be too many things without being really good at any one thing.
There's always next season, Cleveland. Hopefully, the next time will be better than Draft Day.
WHO WON'T – OR SHOULDN'T – LIKE THIS FILM?: Jacksonville Jaguars fans, Seattle Seahawks fans, anyone with real knowledge of how the NFL draft works, people who hate when a romantic subplot is forced into a story where it doesn't feel natural
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? Much like the poor Browns, Draft Day has some promise, but is more of a pretender than a true contender – especially in the pantheon of classic sports movies.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT? If you have zero knowledge of the NFL, the NFL Draft and/or at least have never even played a season of franchise mode in the über-popular Madden video game franchise, you might walk away from Draft Day thinking you've learned a lot about how the NFL draft really works. Well, as someone with real knowledge of that process, that's like someone who plays fantasy football saying they could be a NFL general manager.
Because much like that statement – and many a bad draft in fantasy or real football – Draft Day take a little bit of truth and stretches it out waaaaay past any point of validity in hopes of delivering a passable, entertaining experience.
Even if you were to throw away the ridiculous, non-realistic football business aspects depicted in the film, Draft Day suffers from trying to be too many things – romantic comedy, sports movie, family drama, one man's personal quest – to too many people, save for Browns fans that will take hope even if it's cinematic. Costner is the best thing in the film by far, delivering his lines with conviction to make them as non-cheesy as they are on paper. Garner does her best Julia Roberts impression as the strong female presence to make Ali as engaging as possible, but her character feels forced into the script further mucking up a film that doesn't commit to any one thing. Much like an athlete that could have been a really good player if not for their rap career/clothing line/acting career, Draft Day gets bogged down by trying to be too many things without being really good at any one thing.
There's always next season, Cleveland. Hopefully, the next time will be better than Draft Day.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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