Draft Day

Kevin Costner is the general manager of the Cleveland Browns American football team. It is the day of the draft and he has spent the night doing Jennifer Garner who also works for the Browns spending cap money and stuff. Kevin then spends a lot of time on the phone with upcoming players, one who is managed by P Diddly himself, and chatting with Dennis Leary about who they should draft. A lot of American football jargon then occurs and most normal people not obsessed with this sport become very confused and probably fall asleep.

I'm a big fan of sports films and jump on board any that fall across my path and I am also a big fan of American Football (come on you Bears!!) so understandably I was very keen on watching this film. The best comparison that can be made is with the fantastic film Moneyball which centred around another of the US's favourite games, unfortunately this isn't quite as good for a couple of reasons. The first is the inaccessability of it. Moneyball was about baseball but kept the barrage of information in palatable chunks so that even people, like myself, who have no interest in the sport are able to enjoy the story. Draft Day doesn't quite achieve this as evidenced by me having to explain to Sara how an NFL draft works and subsequently what the hell everyone is talking about. It is a problem as without the explanation Sara literally would not have had a clue what was going on.

The second issue is the story itself. I very much enjoyed what was going on and the tensions felt by a General Manager and Head Coach both fighting for their jobs whilst doing the right thing for the team. This is unfortunately soured a little in the draft itself which ramps up the cheesiness to ridiculous levels. I understand this was done for dramatic emphasis but for me personally I liked the subtle drama that occurred in the build up. Admittedly this is a minor part of the film but as it is the climax we have been waiting for it does leave a slightly bitter taste in the mouth.

Despite both of these issues I very much enjoyed myself. Costner is great in the lead role and his support cast pulls their weight admirably. It also does a very good job of showing some of the possible behind the scenes action that occurs during a very important part of a sport I have come to love very much. Overall I did like this film very much but will admit it is limited in its appeal to non NFL loving people.

Verdict: 4/5