Okay movie, but a typical Hollywood version of how the draft works. What I don't get, is the owner coming in ready to get in Costner's face but ends up telling him he's a genius. Owner was dead set on Callahan, and still didn't get him.

Ok, ok, ok, stop it. I know than this movie is far from a masterpiece. Originally I even gave it a 6 based on overall quality. However, it is a movie than I could watch over and over again and I do not even watch football.I changed it because compared to other non-masterpiece than I can watch forever, I do not laugh at the movie but is actually immersed in. The acting can be goofy at time but give it a look, the pacing is great and if you don't like it, trust me I can totally understand, I just cannot not love it.

Draft Day is a quaint, feel good sports drama, that focuses on the more mundane backroom elements that go into running a professional sports team. The film stars Kevin Costner as Sonny Weaver Jr. the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. At the start of the film Sonny is given an opportunity to trade his number 1 pick for three consecutive years, to have the ability to sign a highly rated Quarterback in this years draft. After getting cold feet upon accepting the deal, he spends the rest of the day wheeling and dealing with other GM's to get the best deal for his team and come out on top by days end.Right away it's safe to say that this film will alienate a large chuck of its audience. Especially those outside the U.S or those that don't follow the NFL. Ivan Reitman who directs this film understands this, so to compensate for this he uses a-lot of exposition to educate his audience. This is a useful tool for some, but for me, as someone that is a fan of American football I found it ear-gratingly cheesy. The fact that a GM needs reminding what number Tom Brady was picked at, felt silly. There were a couple of exposition heavy scenes like this that had me rolling my eyes.Whilst the exposition at times was irritating, I do understand why it was needed. The fact that Ivan Reitman was able to make a sports film that contained no sporting action, as fun and engaging as this film was, is a fantastic achievement. The screenplay whilst fairly standard manages to run along at a decent pace. Never at any moment did Draft day feel boring or dull, even if it was predictable in it's resolutions.Where the film triumphs is in Kevin Costners performance. Costner is at his charismatic best in this film. He brings warmth and empathy to his character that makes you root for him to come out on top by days end. He's also surrounded by terrific performances from a great supporting cast that features Jennifer Garner, Dennis Leary, Frank Langella to name but a few.Draft Day may be lacking in dramatic tension that most sports films have, but what it does do is shine a spotlight on an aspect of sport that isn't as sexy or cool to talk about. The fact that Reitman was able to have me root for the backroom staff is a wonderful achievement in my book.

Draft Day is about the second biggest day in the NFL, behind the Super Bowl. Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) the general manager of the Cleveland Browns has big decisions to make to draft the best players for the team and the future of Browns football. While this day is occurring many other story lines are playing out including the relationship between Sonny and Ali (Jennifer Gardner) the salary cap manager for the Browns. There is a couple of themes in this movie, however, I think the main theme is the character that we demonstrate and live by is how we are judged. This film has many star actors and real life sport and commentator stars portraying themselves. Coach Penn (Dennis Leary) numerous times projected symbolism with showing his championship ring and saying "this is what everyone and the Cleveland Browns want." Winning and being a champion was projected by these scenes. Throughout the movie there are great aerial shots of the cities and stadiums of NFL Teams, in addition to breathtaking skylines captured also. The movie also utilized visual techniques of having side by side shots of two scenes showing the conversations taken place between the actors. There was even a four screen shot during a critical time for the negotiation between the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, the war room of the Browns, and the time clock. There were many examples of character observation in Draft Day especially, the $100 story in the playbook where the player the Browns already had demonstrated the strongest character by having the actions, vision, and investment by sending back the money and reading the playbook. Which no one has ever done. One of my favorite observations is the line that Sonny tells his coaches to do. He says, "figure out what the player has and figure out if it matters or not." I think he was referring to the character of the prospects they were evaluating to join the team. That line reflects of the actions of Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman) and the actions he demonstrated in the video they were reviewing. Mack just made a sack and returned the ball for a touchdown. He then gave the ball to his sister in the stands and was penalized for that. His sister died six months later. It was the character of Mack that seals the decision for Sonny to pick him as the first player picked. Once again, character is being conveyed in this film with his action in the game and Sonny's original decision to pick Vontae Mack by the mystery note he writes at the first and is not revealed until he picks Mack. He did what he wanted to do in the first place and not pick the star winning draft pick that everyone wanted him to pick. The game of football is held by the strong characters in which play the game. It's not always what they can do, but who they are and how they act that makes them winners on and off the field.