Draft Day Free Screening

I just returned from a free screening of Draft Day down in Louisville. As a draft blogger, there was no way I was going to miss a movie about the NFL Draft. Especially a free one. It was worth the trip. As you probably already know, Kevin Costner plays the GM of the Cleveland Browns, and it follows him through the day of the first round of the NFL Draft, and the trials, tribulations and temptations of making the selections that will shape the future of your franchise. It focuses on the whys behind a player being selected, and how much playing a hunch on a gut feeling can factor into the pick. Costner is Sonny Weaver, Jr., the son of a legendary coach of the Browns who winds up being the boss of his father for a time, and who has come to Cleveland to build the team into the winner the fans of the Cleveland have been looking for since coming back into the league. Jennifer Garner is the salary cap analyst for the Browns front office, who loves the game and had to fight her way up the ladder in a man's world. Costner and Garner are also romantic partners, who find it difficult to carry on their relationship while working together in the same office. Denis Leary is the newly hired coach who butts heads with the GM, and Frank Langella is the owner who not only wants a winner but who wants the Browns to be more relevant in the NFL. Weaver starts the day receiving an offer too good to refuse, but he does. He wants to sit at #7 and get the playmaking linebacker he wants, but the owner wants the franchise quarterback at #1. The owner wins out, but the price has increased. Now the coach, who wants the best running back to build with, along with the quarterback who he believes in but is coming off of injury, sees the future of the team heading the wrong way. it all comes to a head when Commissioner Roger Goddell says the Cleveland Browns are on the clock. From here the war room action gets crazy. The GM starts to have doubts about the quarterback he traded to get, and wants to confirm those suspicions. The coach wants to make a deal that he thinks will benefit the team even more. The type of team HE wants to coach. And the owner has gone to New York to present the #1 jersey to his prized pick at the top of the draft. Needless to say, there is a lot of craziness that goes on during the first round, and in the end the Browns end up with the best end of all the bargains. Of course, I couldn't help but think that if the GM's in this movie were actually running teams in the NFL, they would not be around for Day 2 of the draft. Overall, I give Draft Day a draft grade of B+. Yes, it was a bit too manic, but not too over the top. And the real treat were the actors portraying the top prospects. They were convincing enough to make you believe they could be on the stage come May this year at Radio City Hall. As for the individual grades, I give Costner a late first/early second round grade. He was believable enough to the point that I'm sure there are Browns fans who wish he had been the GM during the last couple of drafts in Cleveland. Langella earns a mid-second round grade as the owner who wants the prize but only sees the shiny object, not the reason it may tarnish. I give Leary a late second round pick as the coach who has a Super Bowl ring, but just how egotistical is someone who constantly flashes the ring to prove a point. But for me the performance of Jennifer Garner makes her my #1 Overall Selection. Garner holds her own against the guys, but also completed the entire shoot in the most impossibly high heels. Now that is a trooper you want to build your franchise around. Draft Day opens on April 11th. I recommend it not only to draftniks everywhere but to all who want to spend an enjoyable evening at the movies. And don't forget to wear your favorite teams colors. It is a movie about the NFL, after all.