Wick's Review

Summary - Very Good 3.5

Draft Day scores with football fans and our dates alike. They like it because it’s cute, with a happy ending. We like it because it’s got Jim Brown, Roger Goodell and Arian Foster. Oh yeah, and Kevin Costner, the guy occupying the poster. Costner scores big as the movie’s anchor, kind of Crash Davis, General Manager.

In NFL terms, Costner’s the stud quarterback: looks the part, been there before. His supporting cast varies in quality however, cameos excepted. Yet the cameos make the movie worth seeing for serious football fans like me. Jim Brown, Bernie Kosar, Deion Sanders and Ray Lewis each get a line. Rich Eisen gets two. It’s something they’ll all be proud of, unlike the egg that Brown and others laid with Any Given Sunday.

Oddly enough, Draft Day is a football movie without any football. It’s The West Wing of football movies. It could of been called The Front Office. All the action takes place there and at Radio City Music Hall.

Football aside, the benchmark front-office movie remains Moneyball, a standard this movie doesn’t reach. Kind of like a first round draft pick that ends up a journeyman, Draft Day disappoints yet still succeeds.

Acting - Good 3.0

Kevin Costner adds Sonny Weaver Jr. to his collection of top notch sports-movie leading men. Like Crash Davis, he’s reckless. Like Roy McAvoy, he’s nearly over-the-hill. Like Ray Kinsella, he’s faithful.

Costner is great when serious. He’s serious and thus great in Draft Day, as a stud quarterback should be.

Supporting Cast

• Jennifer Garner turns in a fetching performance as his Salary Cap Doll.
• Chadwick Boseman is touchingly tough as an Ohio State linebacker with First Round Dreams.
• Terry Crews and Arian Foster are solid as Father and Son Cleveland Browns. Arian Foster can act.
• Frank Langella is substantial as the owner of the Cleveland Browns, as expected.
• Denis Leary delivers a classic Denis Leary soliqiouy about why his wife agreed to give up the fancy city of Dallas so her husband could coach the Cleveland Browns.
• Timothy Simons, David Ramsey & Wade Williams disappoint as front office guys.
• Griffin Newman makes Rick the Intern an increasingly pleasant presence in the movie.
• Sean Combs is money as a big time NFL Player’s Agent.
• Josh Pence looks the part as his Heisman Trophy winning QB client.
• Ellen Burstyn lights up the screen when she appears as Costner’s Mom.
• Rosanna Arquette as his Ex, who’s apparently more in with his family than he is
• Sam Elliott has a pithy cameo as the coach of Wisconsin Football.

Himself Credits

• Jim Brown – Mr. Cleveland Brown and Mr. NFL
• Bernie Kosar – the other Mr. Cleveland Brown
• Roger Goodell
• Rich Eisen
• Jon Gruden
• Deion Sanders
• Mike Mayock
• Ray Lewis
• Chris Berman
• Mel Kiper Jr.

Film - Very Good 3.5

Ivan Reitman directs extremely well, working from Scott Rothman & Rajiv Joseph’s acceptable script. His judicious and effective use of split screens works very well. The title cards announcing each NFL city as the camera pans over a huge stadium also score.

Well crafted: Clues get dropped, pleasantly picked up and ultimately paid off, all the way to a happy ending. That’s the way you make a hit movie.

Edge - Risqué 1.8

When the Rudeness is the highest-scoring Edginess category, you know you’ve got a tame NFL movie. Or is it when the Sex is mild, you know you’ve got a tame NFL movie? Maybe it’s both.

Reality - Glib 1.2

Filmed at the real 2013 NFL Draft from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Complete with the real guys who accept the calls from both teams when trades happen.

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