Draft Day (2014)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Purely Joyful Movie!

just watch it!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

This film was well-acted and competently shot, but it definitely can't be called a great sports film. Great sports films transcend the sport they portray. At many points, Draft Day finds itself challenged to even transcend the annual event of the NFL draft. Indeed, at times the film felt like a mere vehicle for promoting the TV extravaganza that the NFL has made of its annual rookie selection process. I was certainly entertained by the concept and plot, as I'm a fairly engaged NFL fan and an avid follower of the off-season moves that NFL personnel offices make in order to improve their teams. However, I think that this film is entertaining to people like me and no one else, which is unfortunate. There was real human drama and consequence that could have been added to the film if a few of the other characters were better developed. While Costner's character was fairly well fleshed out, Chadwick Boseman's, Dennis Leary's, and most importantly Jennifer Garner's were not, and instead felt like mere placeholders (and at times even sports movie clichés). In my estimation, the director and writers missed a prime opportunity to show the personal stress and grueling work hours that can accompany the high-profile positions these characters each hold in a multi-billion-dollar industry. A few scenes of how the demands of professional football impact their family relationships and how their lives are seasonally consumed with the work of running the organization (and in the case of Boseman's character, of trying to break into an industry that will batter his body but allow him to acquire wealth and security for his family). The scenes in Draft Day that attempt to touch on these issues are superficial at best, and didn't effectively convey the struggles these people face, even while they are scrutinized and shamed by the general public, and hounded by the media. POSSIBLE SPOILER: the scene that did partially touch on the fan reaction side was so detached as to be comical, with fans protesting outside the stadium of a GM who made a decision they didn't like.In all, I would call Draft Day a missed opportunity - The script was good, the cast was excellent, and there is a hint of the high stakes that the NFL Draft can encompass, but the movie fails to do anything to get the attention of those who aren't already at least casual fans of the NFL and it's Draft event. And in that, I would say that it even fails in its attempt (and I would argue that this is the real goal of the film in the first place) to attract an expanded viewership to the NFL's Draft Day event. For my part, even as a staunch fan of NFL football and professional sports personnel machinations, I was mostly bored while watching Draft Day.

First of all, I am very disappointed with peoples reviews in here. People are reviewing it bad because, "it's not for people outside of America.." "It's only for people who likes the nfl.", " It's only for Draft enthusiasts..", etc.. In my opinion, this movie is a fast based story driven movie, that does everything right. I myself, is from Denmark, Europe, and I am very interested in the NFL, and American football. We actually have American football in europe, if people wanna know, and it is actually a big sport in some countries. (france, Big Britain, Germany, Finland, etc.I made it a tradition at home now, to watch this movie, before the NFL draft every year, and last time I did, my girlfriend watched it with me. She isn't much interested in sports, but she gave it a go.. I was telling her she could just go to sleep when she was tired, because the Draft would start at 02:00am here in Denmark. Pretty late on a workday. She gave it a change, and after the first 15 mins of the movie, she was sucked into this new univers of the NFL Draft. The movie is nowhere near Jurassic Park, (a personal favorite of mine..) but I am comparing it with it anyways, because, what Jurassic Park was so good at, was drawing the audience into the movie, to make it so exciting. That is what Draft Day does as well. This is maybe not a 10/10 movie, but I think it desserves some support out of all the bad reviews in here. It doesn't desserve a rating under 7.5. There is BY FAR!! a lot worse movies out there than Draft Day!The Point is, IT IS watchable for people outside of USA, and it IS watchable for people, who isn't that interessted in football, but just wanna watch a good story driven movie! They mind end up getting a passion for football after all!

Draft Day is a quaint, feel good sports drama, that focuses on the more mundane backroom elements that go into running a professional sports team. The film stars Kevin Costner as Sonny Weaver Jr. the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. At the start of the film Sonny is given an opportunity to trade his number 1 pick for three consecutive years, to have the ability to sign a highly rated Quarterback in this years draft. After getting cold feet upon accepting the deal, he spends the rest of the day wheeling and dealing with other GM's to get the best deal for his team and come out on top by days end.Right away it's safe to say that this film will alienate a large chuck of its audience. Especially those outside the U.S or those that don't follow the NFL. Ivan Reitman who directs this film understands this, so to compensate for this he uses a-lot of exposition to educate his audience. This is a useful tool for some, but for me, as someone that is a fan of American football I found it ear-gratingly cheesy. The fact that a GM needs reminding what number Tom Brady was picked at, felt silly. There were a couple of exposition heavy scenes like this that had me rolling my eyes.Whilst the exposition at times was irritating, I do understand why it was needed. The fact that Ivan Reitman was able to make a sports film that contained no sporting action, as fun and engaging as this film was, is a fantastic achievement. The screenplay whilst fairly standard manages to run along at a decent pace. Never at any moment did Draft day feel boring or dull, even if it was predictable in it's resolutions.Where the film triumphs is in Kevin Costners performance. Costner is at his charismatic best in this film. He brings warmth and empathy to his character that makes you root for him to come out on top by days end. He's also surrounded by terrific performances from a great supporting cast that features Jennifer Garner, Dennis Leary, Frank Langella to name but a few.Draft Day may be lacking in dramatic tension that most sports films have, but what it does do is shine a spotlight on an aspect of sport that isn't as sexy or cool to talk about. The fact that Reitman was able to have me root for the backroom staff is a wonderful achievement in my book.

Kevin Costner stars as Sonny Weaver Jr, the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. He recently lost his father whom he fired due to poor health and now he's getting ready to make an important decision that will shape the continuation of his career, and that's the choice for the number one pick. This proves to be a challenge since he is on the verge of being getting fired. Weaver proves to be the man for the job through his perseverance and tenacity. He manages his career with his personal life and although somewhat strained in the beginning, the love and kinship felt between them is adorable.Overall, the film starts off pretty strong letting you know why football is so important in Cleveland. With great acting and good dialogue, the movie definitely lives up to its name. Even if you're not a sports fan or a football fan, watching the movie makes you want to get into the game. "Draft Day" is a great sports drama that shows you why this particular day is important, In addition, the entire cast is great. However, its Kevin Costner who really stands out.He showed a great amount of depth and persuasiveness in his role. The film also includes cameos by Ellen Burstyn as Weaver's mother, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Terry Crews, Sam Elliot, Rosanna Arquette, chi Mcbride and Chadwick Boseman. For all sports lovers, don't miss the opportunity to catch this movie.