Draft Day: Movie Review

Director Ivan Reitman’s biggest film to date,”Ghostbusters” is about to celebrate its’ 30th Anniversary.   Unfortunately, the filmmaker has served up a long line of stinkers since then (“Father’s Day”, “Six Days Seven Nights”, “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”) with the exception of films like “Dave” and “Twins” Reitman had continued to churn out below-average films for the past three decades.   Reitman’s latest effort “Draft Day” is easily his best film in twenty years. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a great film, it just means it’s not nearly as bad as every film he made post 1994’s “Junior”.

“Draft Day” takes place during a 12 hour period leading up to and through the NFL Draft.  General manager Sonny Weaver Jr . (Kevin Costner) has a whole lot weighing down on him. Not only has his co-worker/girlfriend Ali (Jennifer Garner) broke the news to him that she is pregnant,  but his boss, franchise owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) has threatened Sonny’s job if he can’t put together a winning team. 

Although the tone is much lighter, there will be many comparisons to 2011’s “Moneyball”, which ‘Draft Day” most certainly is not.  However, thanks to Costner and a supporting cast which includes Denis Leary, Chadwick Boseman, and Griffin Newman who is a stand-out as Sonny’s new intern, things are kept level.  Newman especially is hilarious and easily one of the best parts of “Draft Day”. 

One of the biggest problems with “Draft Day” is that is fails to build tension.  Everything seems to fall into place way to easy, especially in a film that runs on about 20 minutes too long.  It is never boring, but it does have plenty of fat that could use some trimming.   Major football fans will find plenty to enjoy here, but those who don’t follow the sport (like myself) won’t be struggling with it either.  “Draft Day” is entertaining, just not as exciting as it should be.

By: Marc Ferman