Excellent Look Into the Biggest Day of the NFL Offseason

Rating: 9/10 (11 April 2014)

I'm always up for a good football movie and I'm pretty sure that hasn't been one since 2009 when The Blind Side came out. Now, we have a new story from director Ivan Reitman about that one day in the NFL offseason everyone anticipates, Draft Day.
The film begins hours before the NFL Draft begins, and Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) is just getting ready for the day that may make or break his tenure as the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns. Sonny knows everything that is going on even before getting to the office. He has ESPN on his TV at home, and listens to all the sports radio talk. Early in the day, Sonny makes a deal with the Seattle Seahawks, who have the #1 pick and are expected to take hotshot quarterback Bo Callahan. The deal involved the Browns getting the #1 pick from the Seahawks in exchange for their first round picks for the next three seasons. Everyone is expecting Sonny to pick Callahan, but there are two other prospects Sonny is interested in: a linebacker with a good heart but a mouth on him named Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman) and running back Ray Jennings (Current Houston Texans running back Arian Foster), whose father Earl (Terry Crews) was a Browns legend. This move has made Browns fans happy put has angered some Browns personnel, such as head coach Vince Penn (Denis Leary) and starting quarterback Brian Drew (Tom Welling). Ultimately, the choice belongs to Sonny, who is also facing some personal issues with his father, a legendary coach, having passed away a week before the film begins and his girlfriend and fellow co-worker Allie (Jennifer Garner) is pregnant with his child. The film goes through Sonny's day with dealing all the pressure, especially from owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella).
Ivan Reitman has done an awesome job of telling a football story revolving around a big media frenzy every year. I like that he focuses the story on Kevin Costner's sunny and making about the GM of the team, a very tough job indeed. He and director of photography Eric Steelburg (who has shot Reitman's son's films) do a nice job of intertwining the phone conversations between any two characters, usually Sonny and somebody else.
Kevin Costner is just excellent at the front and center of this film. He is great at being the man under pressure from every one and their cousin as his job is on the line. Jennifer Garner is good in her part as girlfriend Allie, but I think any actress could have played that part. Denis Leary is great as the coach who wants to win. Frank Langella was enjoyable as the owner, but my favorite supporting performance was Chadwick Boseman as hothead linebacker Vontae Mack.
Cleveland Browns fans will certainly be happy with this film being about their team. While I am not a Browns fan, I got a football movie I highly enjoyed.