By Kyle Osborne
You know how you can tell that you’ve just seen a good movie? If you’ve been entertained or interested in a story, the subject of which you couldn’t care less about, then the film has done its job. Insider trading on Wall Street? I don’t even know what that means, but I’ve certainly enjoyed several films that used the topic as a backdrop. I really don’t know or care anything about Formula 1 car racing, but Ron Howard’s ‘Rush’ was an exciting, well-made film.
Which brings us to ‘Draft Day,’ in which Kevin Costner plays the General Manager of the hapless Cleveland Browns and is about to (seemingly) make a series of bad decisions that will freak out his coach, his girlfriend and even his Mom, for crying out loud.
The movie, directed by Ivan Reitman starts with a digital clock counting down on screen—we are 12 (or 24? I forget) hours away from the NFL draft, and within the first few minutes, Reitman’s clock has us feeling anxious about the approaching deadline. Costner’s late, legendary Father was the soul of the team, and the fact that ‘Junior’ is making decisions for which he doesn’t seem to be qualified has the whole city against him.
Now, you could say that ‘Draft Day’ is very “Inside Baseball”, but I would argue that the movie does an excellent of job of giving you just the right amount of information, without overwhelming those who care nothing about Football. Reitman uses split-screen wipes throughout the film, which help to take something as mundane as a telephone conversation, and there are many, and turning it into something more visually stimulating. The device is probably overused at times, but it’s just one element that adds some spice to the movie.
In many ways, the story isn’t about Football, the game, so much as it is about the wheeling and dealing and gamesmanship among businessmen. They team owners even try to psyche out their opponents in the same way that athletes might. “What did he mean by that?” Or “What do you think he’s trying to do?” Head games—they just work well in stories.
As for Costner, he’s pretty hit and miss lately, but he seems perfectly cast as the multi-faceted man who is partly cocky, partly insecure, and who is thinking of things that the people around him, particularly the unhappy coach played with a sneer by Dennis Leary, have yet to consider.
I’m not sure there’s a huge audience clamoring to see ‘Draft Day’, beyond the NFL true believers, but you could do worse at the movies this weekend, if you can’t see your first round choice.
‘Draft Day’ gets 3 out of 4 Stars.
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