Draft Day is a 2014 American sports drama film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Costner. It was released on April 11, 2014. The premise revolves around the general manager of the Cleveland Browns (Costner) deciding what to do when his team acquires the number one draft pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
The film premiered in Los Angeles on April 7, 2014, with its United States release following on April 11.
Plot
On the day of the fictionalized 2014 NFL Draft, the consensus number one pick (as stated by real-life analyst Jon Gruden) is a University of Wisconsin quarterback: Bo Callahan, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr., is holding the seventh overall pick. His father, Sonny Weaver Sr., coached the Browns, was fired by his son, and died a week before the draft. Devastated, Weaver Jr. is given the opportunity to trade for the first overall draft pick, held by a fictionalized version of the Seattle Seahawks (with general manager Tom Michaels and his boss/owner Walt). Weaver recently learned that his girlfriend Ali Parker is pregnant with his child. Parker also works for the Browns, as a lawyer concerned with ensuring the integrity of the Browns' salary cap, and their relationship is intended to be secret from the rest of the Browns staff.
Michaels offers the number-one pick to Weaver, but he declines. However, he later accepts after being told to "make a splash" by Browns owner Anthony Molina (played by Frank Langella). The Browns thus trade their three first-round draft picks over the next three years to the Seahawks in exchange for the top pick, a deal Michaels believes is good. However, this move angers many Seahawks fans who wanted Callahan to play for their team. They take to social media to express their displeasure with Michaels and publicly demands Walt to fire him for it.
The move also angers Browns head coach Penn, who had wanted to draft running back Ray Jennings for his system offense, and the current quarterback, Brian Drew, who had led the team to a 5â€"1 start the previous year before being injured. The news leaks after it is tweeted by Vontae Mack, a defensive player for Ohio State who wants to play for the Browns and who advises Weaver to re-watch the tape of him sacking Callahan four times in one game to see what Callahan does next. Weaver also turns down a proposed trade from the Buffalo Bills, as well as inquiry from the Kansas City Chiefs about the availability of Drew.
Coming into the draft, the only downside to Callahan appears to be two incidents which reflect on his honestyâ€"a 21st birthday party disturbance/robbery ostensibly attended by none of his Wisconsin teammates (despite Callahan's captaincy), and Callahan allegedly lying to the Washington Redskins about reading a playbook they sent him. When the Browns are "on the clock" with the first overall pick, Weaver sends in the choice of Mack without the rest of the head office's knowledge. While Drew appears to be relieved of the choice for Mack, Molina furiously leaves the draft in New York City to fly back to Cleveland to confront Sonny. Callahan has what appears to be an anxiety attack and leaves by the back door, having to be coaxed back to the draft by his agent Chris Crawford.
Callahan steadily drops in the draft and is still available for the sixth pick, held by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Weaver talks the "rookie" GM of the Jaguars into giving him the sixth overall pick in exchange for the next three years of the Browns' second-round draft picks. Molina comes in furious with Weaver and confronts him for passing Callahan for Mack. He tells his boss that he had his reasons for picking Mack and convinces Molina to let him do his job. Weaver then calls Michaels, who badly wants Callahan, and secures all three first-round draft picks back for the sixth pick, along with Seattle's punt returner David Putney. Seattle takes Callahan, allowing Weaver to also select Ray Jennings and thus make coach Penn happy.
The draft is portrayed as a success for the Browns, while Opening Day 2014 is shown with a visibly pregnant Ali still with Weaver. The team prepares for the game with all Browns players (Mack, Jennings, Drew, and Putney) seemingly in high spirits and ready for the season to begin.
Cast
Production
When the idea was first made public, the film was to be centered around the Buffalo Bills, but the studio subsequently changed it to the Cleveland Browns because of cheaper production costs in Ohio.
Crowd reactions of fans at the actual 2013 NFL Draft, as well as Cleveland Browns fans at local bars, were filmed. Cameos with real-life NFL figures such as league commissioner Roger Goodell and ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman were filmed before and after the draft took place. The rest of the film began filming on May 8, 2013.
2014 NFL Draft
Like in the film, the Cleveland Browns made splashes at the draft, trading up to select quarterback Johnny Manziel with the 22nd pick. The team also made several deals, trading away their fourth pick to the Buffalo Bills but for their ninth pick, as well as their 2015 first round pick. They later traded up to the eighth pick to draft Justin Gilbert. Finally, after watching Manziel drop farther than projected, they again traded up for the 22nd pick. Chris Berman, who played himself in the fictionalized draft, commented at the 2014 NFL Draft, that the events surrounding the Cleveland Browns were more exciting than the film. Unlike the film, the Browns selected the much-hyped Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, as opposed to passing on Bo Callahan, the fictionalized first pick favorite.
Marketing
The first poster and trailer for the film were released on December 23, 2013.
Reception
Draft Day has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 62%, based on 130 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "It's perfectly pleasant for sports buffs and Costner fans, but overall, Draft Day lives down to its title by relying too heavily on the sort of by-the-numbers storytelling that only a statistician could love". On the aggregated review site Metacritic, the film has a score of 54 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper gave the film a "B", stating the film is "a sentimental, predictable, sometimes implausible but thoroughly entertaining, old-fashioned piece."
On the contrary, Jack Hamilton of Slate was harshly critical. "The 'filmmaking' here consists of making sure the camera is pointed at people who are explaining the film's plot to one another, preferably while they are wearing logos and standing in front of more logos," he wrote. He suggested the NFL's involvement had made the film too upbeat. "[It] isn't so much a movie as a movielike infomercial for the kinder, gentler NFL ... In the wake of labor strife, off-field scandals, and the ongoing CTE [Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy] crisis, the NFL is doubling down on its fantasy of paternalism, and Draft Day is that fantasy's porn film."
Box office
The film grossed $9,783,603 in its opening weekend, finishing in fourth place at the box office behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rio 2, and Oculus (the latter two also being new releases).
As of June 18, 2014, the film has grossed $28,842,237 domestically with an additional $604,801 overseas for a worldwide total of $29,447,038 against a $25 million budget.
References
External links
- Official website
- Draft Day at the Internet Movie Database
- Draft Day at Box Office Mojo
- Draft Day at Rotten Tomatoes
- Draft Day at Metacritic
