Director/producer Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, No Strings Attached) takes a break from the comedy genre with Draft Day, a drama set during the most important day of the National Football League’s off-season. For those unfamiliar with the event, it is the day in which college athletes are recruited and signed by professional teams. Reitman definitely captures the feeling of panic and scrambling as the clock literally ticks down to the final seconds. It’s just unfortunate that other aspects of the movie’s script feel contrived.
Cleveland Browns General Manager Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) finds his team flailing and his job in jeopardy from owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella). He knows that he must make a “big splash” by signing a highly ranked prospect. As if the stress of deal making and jockeying for position with other teams isn’t enough, Weaver’s girlfriend and team account manager Ali (Jennifer Garner) informs him that she is pregnant. Additionally, his mother (Ellen Burstyn) demands his late father’s ashes be scattered on the team’s practice field in an impromptu ceremony… immediately and without delay.
Reitman does a solid job of pacing the film. He includes a countdown clock that runs periodically, emphasizing the fact that time is quickly running out. The heated arguments between GMs, coaches and staff members as well as the fast-talking deal making scenes are highlights. These energetic sequences are filled with tension and the constant conflict keep things moving along briskly. The only caveat is the director’s bizarre use of split screen (in which two characters in separate locations are on screen at the same time, separated by a line). He often superimposes a character slowly edging and sometimes walking over the border. Frankly, it’s an odd effect and distracting to the unfolding drama.
However, for the most part the high stakes boardroom scenes are zippy. It’s important because the longer one has the opportunity to think about what they’re witnessing, the more the cracks in the screenwriting begin to appear. While it’s no fault of the excellent cast, Weaver’s unfolding family drama is difficult to believe. These characters have spent their lives in the football world and know of the day’s incredible importance. They do give their reasons for bringing personal issues up, but it feels like added conflict that has been shoehorned in rather than coming organically from the subject matter.
And this is a personal issue, but many films of this type follow a protagonist who struggles with a making an important choice that goes against conventional wisdom. The problem is that while it may be a difficult call for the character, it’s made blatantly obvious to viewers who we are supposed to empathize with and the choice that must be made. This lends a degree of phoniness to the proceedings. One wishes that characters were far more gray, that events weren’t wrapped up as neatly as they are and that Weaver was forced into making some truly tough calls.
Draft Day is a slickly produced film that will likely entertain those interested in its subject matter. It is unfair to some degree to make comparisons, but one wishes that this movie had followed the approach of Moneyball (a more effective film based around a similar concept) instead of taking a safer and more conventional approach to the material. It’s a passable effort, but the story flaws keep it from achieving sports movie greatness.