Review: “Draft Day”: Boom or Bust?

Griffin Conlogue ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Kevin Costner has maintained his diverse career with an interesting 2014 that has already seen two films released by April. Will this Friday’s release of Draft Day be another successful film like Dances With Wolves or The Untouchables? Or will it fizzle and burn like this year’s earlier Costner release, 3 Days to Kill? Perhaps middle ground is more acceptable.
Draft Day is neither an amazing film nor a terrible one. It is simply so-so. What seems like a boring, one-dimensional concept – how will NFL Draft Day go for the down-on-his-luck general manager of the struggling Cleveland Browns? – turns out to be a decent drama. The characters are what really matter here.
Though Ivan Reitman’s directing and Rajiv Joseph’s script is a little heavy-handed, the characters are all appealing and entertaining and make audiences care about them. Will Sonny Weaver, Jr. (Kevin Costner) lose his job? Will Brian Drew (Tom Welling) get traded? Can Coach Vince Penn (Emerson alum Denis Leary) make it work with his new team? All of these are things are genuinely engaging when watching the film.

But that is also one of the larger issues with the film. All the main issues that really matter are sports-related. This unfortunately may make the film unappealing to non-football fans, as the plot is filled with sports jargon and football references that the casual viewer may struggle to understand. For a sports fan, this might be the film you’ve been waiting for, but for everyone else, it may be a bust. Costner fans will love what they see, as he gives a strong performance in the lead role.
His chemistry with love interest, Ali – played by the lovely Jennifer Garner – is a little lacking, but in a film that is ultimately about the sporting world, it doesn’t really matter. Her presence in the film is unnecessary and may have just been added for the film to pass the Bechdel test. The strongest supporting performance was probably that of rising star Chadwick Boseman, who will be seen later this year in the buzzworthy Get on Up.

The climax of the film is where the magic finally happens, when edge-of-your-seat drama begins to unfold. This is the big saving grace of the film, as it begins to get very exciting and crazy. You’ll want to see the moves Sonny pulls off.
Costner shockingly still has two films left to be released in 2014, in what has turned out to be his busiest year as an actor. One of those films is McFarland, another sports drama that he’ll be hoping will hold the magic that made him famous so many years ago in Field of Dreams and Bull Durham. Though Draft Day wasn’t a total failure, it isn’t a film that will be remembered as a sports classic in the years to come. However, if you’re looking for a fun and easy film this weekend, Draft Day might be the way to go.
Overall Grade: B-

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