Draft Day (2014)
TOMATOMETER
Critics Consensus: It's perfectly pleasant for sports buffs and Costner fans, but overall, Draft Day lives down to its title by relying too heavily on the sort of by-the-numbers storytelling that only a statistician could love.
Critics Consensus: It's perfectly pleasant for sports buffs and Costner fans, but overall, Draft Day lives down to its title by relying too heavily on the sort of by-the-numbers storytelling that only a statistician could love.
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Movie Info
On the day of the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Costner) has the opportunity to save football in Cleveland when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he's willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL. (c) Lionsgate- Rating:
- PG-13 (for brief strong language and sexual references)
- Genre:
- Drama
- Directed By:
- Ivan Reitman
- Written By:
- Scott Rothman , Rajiv Joseph
- In Theaters:
- Apr 11, 2014 Wide
- On DVD:
- Sep 2, 2014
- US Box Office:
- $28.8M
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Cast
-
Kevin Costner
as Sonny Weaver, Jr. -
Jennifer Garner
as Ali -
Denis Leary
as Coach Penn -
Ellen Burstyn
as Barb Weaver -
Frank Langella
as Anthony Molina -
Chadwick Boseman
as Vontae Mack
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Critic Reviews for Draft Day
All Critics (143) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (57) | DVD (1)
Ivan Reitman's dull-witted movie about the flurries of player trading on N.F.L. draft day might be a commercial for professional football.
A human drama sprinkled with a number of laughs.
Draft Day isn't even really about football. It's about coming into your own and finding clarity at a personal and professional crossroads. It's about doing your job. It's a day in the life.
Thanks to Costner's sly, dry-aged charisma, it marches down the field and scores.
"Draft Day" might be a trick play, but it manages to score.
It's a sign of Costner's enduring stardom that he can skate through a movie this hyperactive and dull, yet still have you like him.
Plays like Moneyball-lite ...
Essentially this year's Moneyball, but set in American football rather than baseball, this fast-paced drama is brightly made with an especially strong cast.
Formulaic but surprisingly watchable.
Air-punch inducing drama with Kevin Costner about the surprisingly fascinating sport of American Football player trading.
In the Costner sporting canon, it's no Bull Durham, Field of Dreams or Tin Cup, but the star is a rock-solid presence and is well supported by a cast chock-full of recognisable faces.
A film that is exceedingly easy to enjoy, as perfect Saturday night, network TV fodder. Though as entertaining as it may be, the concept itself is flawed and without the substantiality to warrant a big screen release.
Quarterback scrambles forever muscle centre stage, leaving the human element scrimmaging on the sidelines.
The drama holds the attention throughout, even if the script never quite crackles as it might.
Kevin Costner, at his most stony-faced, making a whole bunch of time-pressured phone calls, and rallying with fists clenched to exclaim "I love this job!", and so on.
Draft Day ends up as the trashy, glitzy cousin to the Oscar-nominated Moneyball, minus the smart statistical hook.
Director Ivan Reitman jazzes the talky proceedings up with split screens and transitions galore, but it's still just a minor-league Moneyball.
a fantasy football film that can be entertaining for fans and non-fans alike
Entertainingly dramatizes the tight rope, wheeling and dealing thrills that play out during one of America's biggest sports events.
Draft Day is a perfectly enjoyable movie with a solid understanding of football and football minds, but tends to lag when focusing on subplots not related to football.
The longer this picks-pic runs its plays, the safer and more sanitized it seems, until this romanticizing ad is like a crazed safety, covering way more of the backfield (backroom drama, office romance, family drama, etc.) than ever becomes interesting.
Costner reminds just why he was, at one point in time, one of the most popular movie stars in the world, for his natural, flawed everyman relatability has never more effectively used in recent memory.
It's not about winning a big game and it's not about an underdog team getting its one chance. 'Draft Day' is an enjoyable sports movie that isn't about football per se. It's about the politics of what goes into selecting players for a team.
Fans will enjoy the air of authenticity, spotting the real-life sports personalities---and throwing penalty flags when Hollywood puts a bit too much melodramatic spin on the subject.
'Draft Day' will likely go down as the greatest sports movie from the director of 'Ghostbusters.'
Audience Reviews for Draft Day
One of the rare films where Costner's understated and wooden persona is actually effective. I enjoyed the film quite a bit.
MoreSuper Reviewer
While not really plausible and lacking the emotional connection it is striving for, Draft Day is nonetheless a fun and effective movie about the NFL draft and all of the craziness involved. It's cool to sort of get a view of the draft from a perspective other than as a fan. Kevin Costner is his usual self as the general manager: likable and effective, but doesn't knock it out of the park. The supporting cast is filled in nicely by Denis Leary as the coach, Jennifer Garner as the girlfriend, Frank Langella as the team owner, Ellen Burstyn as Costner's widowed mother, and Arian Foster &Chadwick Boseman as a draft prospects. This film has funny parts, exciting moments, and just gets enough right that I found myself enjoying it despite the flaws and leaps in logic of plenty of the people involved in the ridiculous trades that occur. Recommended for the entertainment factor if you like football, but probably not worth it otherwise.
MoreSuper Reviewer
One of Director, Ivan Reitman's finest films in years. This film scores with honest drama and some enjoyable laughs. A real touchdown that has plenty of heart and is well-crafted and wonderfully performed. A beautifully character driven and utterly original piece of work. It has a great story and a truly better cast who all work tremendously well together. Kevin Costner is at his best, his aged charm, style and dedication make his character likeable and a winner. One of his best performances in years. Jennifer Gardner is excellent. Denis Leary is brilliant. Frank Langella is terrific.
MoreSuper Reviewer
"Draft Day" is much the NFL's fictional version of "Moneyball". A general manager wants to put together a team, and everyone is questioning what he is up to. Is he crazy? Will he fail or succeed? Kevin Costner plays the general manager of the Cleveland Browns and has traded away the next 3 years of 1st round draft picks for the 1st overall pick. From there it follows the craziness that is draft day in the NFL. This movie has a lot going for it, but it also has quite a bit going against it. When it deals with football, it's very compelling. When it turns towards the melodrama of Costner's personal life(father's death, girlfriend pregnant) it feels forced and unnecessary. I get why it's in here, but it didn't need to be. Having said that, the movie has a lot of great performances and it never drags or gets boring. I will say though that being a fan of the NFL, the way the draft plays out is so unrealistic. It's like watching one of "Rocky's" boxing fights. It would never ever play out like that. But, it's a movie, what do you expect? Football fans should like it, and non fans should probably watch with a fan, because they may have a question or two about the inner workings of the draft. Decent flick.
MoreSuper Reviewer
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