In “Draft Day,” director Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”) sets up the fictional Cleveland Browns organization as one in chaos, with team owner Harvey Molina (Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”) pressuring General Manager Sony Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner, “Man of Steel”) to “make a splash” in the NFL Draft. This occurs all while Weaver and Head Coach Vince Penn (Denis Leary, “The Amazing Spider-Man”) argue about how to build the Browns into a Super Bowl contender.
Consequently, the chaos in the fictional Browns organization appears to mimic the chaos in the real Browns organization, which fired their head coach and general manager after just one season and, like the fictional Browns, are sitting with a high draft pick in the upcoming draft.
The NFL Draft, which takes place in early May, is the primary way amateur players are selected into the NFL. It lasts seven rounds, and more than 200 players are taken every year. The best players get selected earlier in the draft by the worst professional teams from the previous earlier.
The movie follows Weaver in the hours leading up to the NFL Draft as he decides how the Browns will use their first round pick. Throughout the day, Weaver is fed insights on NFL hopefuls, as well as the state of his own team, through his staff and other NFL general managers. Weaver’s staff try to get a scoop on what the Browns plan to do.
Reitman’s film does a good job at engaging the draft day angle as the tension about Weaver’s decision mounts with each tad of information and piece of input from the Browns staff as the day progresses. Weaver maintains his poker face until he makes the pick even as the decision becomes foggier with each passing minute.
Die hard NFL fans will appreciate some familiar football cameos including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, current Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (who plays one of the draft prospects), Browns’ Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown and others. Fans should also appreciate a fairly good recreation of how their favorite teams go about adding talent.
While non-football fans may be confused by some of the football lingo, most of the dialogue deals with who the Browns will select versus the evaluation of the actual players.
The movie loses steam is in its attempt to humanize Weaver with issues that have nothing to do with the draft. The movie frequently cuts to scenes where Weaver attempts to hash out his problems with Ali (Jennifer Garner, “Dallas Buyers Club”), the team’s salary cap manager and Weaver’s romantic partner. Most of these scenes do little to advance the plot and offer nothing more than a weak attempt to show Weaver’s life outside of football.
Costner gives the best performance in a generally well-acted movie from most of the cast, although outside of Costner’s Weaver character, none of the other characters have much depth or originality.
Reitman and company do a fine job in their recreation of an NFL team on the day of the draft, but interrupt a compelling and well-executed storyline with fluff about what happens after the draft.
