Draft Day

Draft Day follows Kevin Costner’s Sonny Weaver as he attempts to assemble a team for his professional football organization during the titular event, with the movie primarily concerning itself with the wheeling and dealing that transpires over the course of one very long day. It’s clear immediately that director Ivan Reitman and scripters Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph have little interest in opening the proceedings to football neophytes, as Draft Day, particularly in its early sequences, unfolds in a whirlwind of sports-related references and terminology that’s nothing short of baffling – with the pervasively inside atmosphere preventing the viewer from working up any real interest in Sonny’s continuing exploits (ie it’s hard to care what he’s doing when one doesn’t quite know what he’s doing). The lack of an entry point is alleviated to a small degree by the ongoing emphasis on Sonny’s relationship with a coworker (Jennifer Garner’s Ali), as the conventional yet entertaining subplot goes a long way towards infusing the narrative with bursts of much-needed humanity. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that the film’s supporting cast boasts a revolving door of familiar faces, including Chi McBride, Denis Leary, Terry Crews, and Frank Langella.) And although there are few football-related elements here that partially work – eg a player (Tom Welling’s Brian) pleads with Sonny to keep him on the team – Draft Day, which suffers from a growing emphasis on the dull minutia of the protagonist’s endeavors, ultimately establishes itself as a weak, non-inclusive drama that’s been geared solely towards an extremely specific demographic (ie non-fans need not apply).

** out of ****