Entertainment
The Greatest Sports Movie of the 2010s Has Barely Any Sports in it At All
With the NFL season gearing up to kick off in Seattle on September 9, many diehard football fans are salivating at the thought of watching their favorite team suit up every week on the gridiron. Part of the anticipation of the season is the annual NFL Draft in April, where hundreds of the best college football players are picked by NFL teams to make the transition to superstardom.
As such, Hollywood took a peek behind the curtain in 2014’s Draft Day, a film that took a fictionalized version of that year’s NFL Draft and turned it into a riveting drama ripe with split screen phone calls, deep cut sports trivia, and a compelling narrative that put it all on the line. And yet, there was one thing missing from this quintessential football film– An actual game of football.
The clock is always ticking
In Draft Day, which appropriately takes place entirely on the day of the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns’ general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) trades for the highly coveted first overall pick, leaving him and his staff mere hours to decide who they will take number one overall. All eyes are on the Heisman winning quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence), who might not have the best character, but Sonny is set on linebacker Vontae Mack (the late Chadwick Boseman), despite numerous staff members not on board with the idea.
While the film on the surface may not seem terribly exciting, being primarily comprised of phone calls and lots of discussion of sports statistics, what makes it interesting is the fast-paced ticking clock narrative. With only hours to make a potentially career-altering decision, Sonny is constantly under pressure, both professional and personal, since his coworker and girlfriend Ali Parker (Jennifer Garner) has just told him that she’s pregnant with his baby.
Behind the scenes of the NFL Draft
The film also shines a light on an often overlooked portion of the game of football- the building of a roster. What few take into account while watching the NFL Draft is how much strategy and foresight is involved with the event. Teams must not only draft for the future and build a team that can help them win, but predict the moves of rival teams and possibly take advantage of their needs. This is proven in the film when Sonny makes the risky move of trading back into the first round directly in front of the Seattle Seahawks in order to get them to trade with the Browns to get their coveted player.
There are also numerous factors that play into why a team chooses a certain player. Sonny and his staff do their due diligence on Callahan by watching his game film- the only time in the film the audience gets to see a football game– calling his coaches, and digging into his past. Not to mention that Sonny is repeatedly contacted by other teams who want a player currently on the Browns’ roster who Sonny isn’t quite ready to part with. The wheeling and dealing is part of the business of football and the film showcases that sometimes, it’s not an easy road to success.
Even though the stakes may not seem high, the film elevates the drama by sprinkling in character moments that are truly unique. Sonny’s mother (Ellen Burstyn) arrives and demands that he help her spread his late father’s ashes on the practice field, but the already stressed out Sonny refuses. What makes this work is that neither Sonny nor his mother are right or wrong and the audience understands both their mindsets, which carries over to all the interpersonal relationships of every character in the film. Nobody has ill intent or is too far in one direction, they’re just doing their jobs.
Despite a lack of action-packed football, Draft Day celebrates the game and even shows it in a new light. Focusing on the people behind the scenes, as well as the fast-paced world of the Draft, the film is a must watch for sports fans and a compelling drama on top of that.
- Release Date
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April 7, 2014
- Runtime
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120minutes
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