Draft Day (2014)

Strengths: It’s pretty clear by now that Kevin Costner (Sonny Weaver Jr.) is the king of full on sports movies. The movie Draft Day (2014) is a great example of that. Though this wasn’t on the level of some of his best work in the field, it was a lot of fun to watch online. Maybe it’s because I really like the managerial side of sports, but the office stuff was a blast. It was great to see Costner struggle with the wheeling and dealing that comes with getting the top pick. His constant bickering with Dennis Leary (Vince Penn), the coach who disagreed with the moves he was making, was a highlight.  

It felt like the kind of real tension you’ll see in this situation. The people portraying the players, like Chadwick Boseman (Vontae Mack) and Tom Welling (Brian Drew), did very well with their limited roles. I appreciated the drama that goes down once the draft begins. You legitimately don’t know what’s going to happen with the top pick and when it goes down, you’re genuinely taken aback. What follows, as Weaver makes moves throughout the night, is enthralling. Weaknesses: There was one major, glaring issue with the movie. I understand that a film usually needs a B plot and that it typically involves some kind of love story that you get to free download. That was the case here, as the entire point of Jennifer Garner’s (Ali Parker) character was to be the love interest. The fact that she was pregnant and Sonny was about to have his first child felt like an unnecessary weight pulling down the rest of the movie. Each time they forced these characters together to talk, it never clicked and did nothing but hold everything back. Overall: I’m a sucker for a strong sports movie. As someone who likes playing the role of a general manager in video games, I’m all for this side of it all. This movie reminded me of Money ball, though the romantic side stopped it from being in the same league of greatness.