Jennifer Garner, left, and Kevin Costner star in “Draft Day,” a drama about behind-the-scenes dealings during an NFL draft.
Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
It’s a slow week for home video, and the only major theatrical release moving to the big screen is a sports drama starring Kevin Costner.
Draft Day
2½ stars (out of four)
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and sexual references
Lionsgate
Available on: Blu-ray, DVD, digital download and on demand
Kevin Costner may have started his career as a pretty-boy star, but he has become an increasingly accomplished actor with age. Put him in a sports film, and one can’t help but reflect on just how far he has come. After all, Costner hit his stride in the late 1980s with the baseball films “Bull Durham” and “Field of Dreams.”
“Draft Day” brings Costner back to the sports genre, but he has a new role. Instead of wearing cleats and a baseball glove, he’s sporting a suit, tie and an attitude. His character, Sonny Weaver Jr., is general manager of a fictionalized version of the Cleveland Browns NFL franchise. Sonny, the son of one of the Browns’ most beloved coaches, is under pressure from team owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) to “make a splash” in the 2014 draft. Sensing an opportunity to do just that, he makes a trade with the Seattle Seahawks and lands the No. 1 pick.
Sports analysts are convinced that Sonny will use the freshly acquired pick to score University of Wisconsin quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence), the player most of them view as the best value in the draft. Fan expectations are also high, but Sonny knows the team hasn’t adequately vetted Callahan, and the Browns already have a veteran quarterback on the roster.
Determined to make the right choice, Sonny spends the hours leading up to the draft investigating players, debating with staff – including the team’s outspoken coach (Denis Leary) – and considering another possible trade. As he works, he also comes to terms with a surprise development in a romantic relationship with a much younger colleague (Jennifer Garner).
The cast for “Draft Day” is terrific, and director Ivan Reitman (“Stripes,” “Ghostbusters”) uses flashy editing to emphasize the intensity of behind-the-scenes football maneuvers. He also makes sure each conversation in the film drives the plot forward, bringing Sonny closer and closer to a decision that could impact the rest of his career.
Despite hokey moments (there are bits that feel like advertisements for the NFL), “Draft Day” is exciting through two-thirds of its run. Then, screenwriters Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph deliver a twist that defies all logic.
If a movie about the football business is to be convincing, the filmmakers have to stay true to the inner workings of the industry, and nothing in the final minutes of “Draft Day” would happen in a fantasy football draft, let alone the NFL. Reitman and his players have so much fun getting to those final minutes that it’s difficult to discount their work. But it’s also difficult to ignore plot points that are best described as nonsensical.
The fact that “Draft Day” is so entertaining before it derails leaves viewers with a conundrum. They can either enjoy it for the guilty pleasure it becomes or simply shake their heads in disgust. Either way, the film is an exercise in frustration because it should have been better.
Blu-ray and DVD extras include deleted scenes and an audio commentary by Joseph and Rothman.
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– Forrest Hartman is an independent film critic whose byline has appeared in some of the nation’s largest publications. E-mail him at forrest@forresthartman.com.
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