Taut & Engrossing Sports Tale

Rating: 7/10 (17 September 2014)

There are some highly implausible and nonsensical plot elements here, yet despite that I found this movie to be a taut and engrossing sports tale and it kept my interest throughout.
Kevin Costner gives another solid performance here as Sonny Weaver, Jr., the beleaguered General Manager of the Cleveland Browns, in the NFL. He has to contend with a meddling owner (Frank Langella), a combative head coach (Denis Leary) and a very angry fan base who are tired of losing. Additionally, his father has just passed away, as he was the former coach of the Browns and fired by Sonny Jr (we find out late in the movie the reason why). Finally, he's in a relationship with the team's capologist (Jennifer Garner), and has just found out she's pregnant with their baby.
With the entire film set on NFL Draft Day, Sonny receives a call from the General Manager of the Seattle Seahawks who hold the #1 pick in the draft, who's expected to be the hot-shot quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence). However, the Seahawks are willing to trade their #1 pick for a very dear price in return.
Under threat of being fired unless he makes a big splash in the draft, Sonny reluctantly agrees to the deal. Thus begins a long series of "wheelings and dealings" by NFL execs, as the start of the draft looms, which I thought was realistically portrayed, although I'm not sure how much non-football fans who don't know the lingo may understand.
It all will culminate in what I thought was quite the dramatic ending. As mentioned, if one can get past the implausible script elements, it can be a good watch.
The acclaimed filmmaker Ivan Reitman handles the direction here, with a screenplay from Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman.