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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.
Critic 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.
All Critics (154) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (92) | Rotten (62) | 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.
Despite the overall acting and the less-than-compelling subplot involving Sonny's personal life, the film is terrific. It's smart, engaging, uplifting. It's great for all ages.
While some the broad strokes of the story may be fairly easy to call out fairly early on, it packs in enough "what's gonna happen?" suspense to make the eventual third act payoff worth hanging in there for.
Anyone looking for a lot of hard-hitting football highlights will be better off spending their time with NFL films and John Facenda.
Kevin Costner's unexpected comeback continues with this surprisingly fine sports jam in the vein of Moneyball-it's not about the meal, it's about how the sausage gets made.
As movies go, Draft Day is the equivalent of an 8-8 NFL team. Maybe even a 7-9. It is sporadically interesting, and suggests that it is worth sticking around for the final play. But there's no guarantee you will be satisfied with the outcome.
We've seen lots of this type of Art of the Deal maneuvering-how GMs spread gossip, bait and switch, gamble, and haggle each other. It never gets old. It's also the best part.
One of the rare films where Costner's understated and wooden persona is actually effective. I enjoyed the film quite a bit.
Super 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.
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.
"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.
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