Draft Day (2014) * * *

Directed by:  Ivan Reitman

Starring:  Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Ellen Burstyn, Chadwick Boseman, Arian Foster, Frank Langella

I'm not sure what exactly comprises an NFL team general manager's day, but if it's anything like Sonny Weaver Jr.'s (Costner), then he can have it.   Especially the day of the 1st round of the NFL Draft, which may or may not make or break the future of NFL teams.    I'm not usually a viewer of the NFL draft broadcast, which occurs in April amongst great fanfare mostly because it's the closest thing football-starved fans will come to seeing football players until training camp.    The draft itself is dull fare.    The commissioner walks up to the podium every 15 minutes announcing the college player a team has picked much to the delight or disdain of the fans who show up and those watching at home.   We see the player stride to the podium, given a team jersey, and pose for a photo-op with the commissioner before being hustled off the stage.   We see this repeated all night long.    Many would disagree with my take on this.

Draft Day focuses on the tense, drama-filled day Sonny faces hours before his Cleveland Browns are to pick their first-round draft choice.    The Browns have faced decades of futility and Sonny is looking to reverse that.    He accepts an early trade offer from the Seattle Seahawks to move up to the first overall pick.   It seems fans, Sonny's pregnant girlfriend Ali (Garner), and the Browns' head coach Vince Penn (Leary) all have different opinions on who that pick should be.    The Browns' owner (Langella) makes a thinly veiled threat that Sonny must make a splash in the draft or be fired.   Sonny is living proof that coaches and/or general managers are hired to be fired.    Especially in Cleveland.   

Sonny, as played by Costner, is a guy we can sympathize with.    He has not only the Browns' future in his hands, but the happiness of Browns fans, who have put up with decades of misery.   Throw in the temper tantrums of his starting quarterback who thinks he will be traded, a head coach who feels left out of the loop, and a mother who wants to sprinkle the ashes of his late father on the practice field today; and you have an idea what Sonny is up against.   And you think your job is stressful.
Costner convincingly allows us a glimpse into a man whose job is one big conduit of stress.

Draft Day is intriguing throughout, mostly because Sonny doesn't show everyone all of the cards.   It is presented so the non-NFL draft geek can follow along, while presenting enough insider stuff to please hardcore fans.    Naturally there is plenty of product placement with the NFL logo plastered all over the place, but at least it feels authentic.    This isn't the Any Given Sunday football league, where Sonny would be the GM for the struggling Dallas Knights.    I'm sure things are never wrapped up like they are in Draft Day and everyone goes home happy, but the film isn't a documentary, but a light drama in which things work out for Sonny at least for one day.