Draft Day: Ivan Reitman

Here are the most important criteria for a sports film: people who have never heard of the sport before in their lives can a) understand, b) follow, and c) enjoy it. Before watching Ivan Reitman's Draft Day, I knew practically nothing about that yearly event wherein professional football teams compete to hire rookie players. But that didn't hamper my ability to enjoy the film at all. Indeed, Draft Day contains such a tightly constructed script that even people who have never seen a game of American football can appreciate what is going on. One of the major criticisms I've heard about the film is that it mythologizes professional football. To which I say: and didn't Rocky (1976) mythologize boxing? Now, I'm not saying that Draft Day is a film on par with Rocky. But my point remains. Kevin Costner is excellent as Sonny Weaver, Jr., the beleaguered General Manager of the Cleveland Browns. Costner has aged brilliantly into this role wherein his acting abilities are stretched further than they have been in years (to magnificent effect). Jennifer Garner is equally brilliant as Ali Parker, his girlfriend and salary cap manager for the Browns. Parker is the kind of boss that we all wish we could have had during terrible jobs. I particularly love the scene where she chews out a high-ranking employee for verbally assaulting an intern ("Don't you dare ever talk to an intern that way again"). In fact, the whole film could be used as a blueprint for how to be an effective leader. Watch the scene where Sonny confronts the aforementioned intern after unknowingly destroying his laptop in a fit of rage. The film's editing may seem distracting to some, what with it mimicking of the razzle-dazzle techniques used by major television networks during game broadcasts. But I found these techniques (split-screen conversations, screen wipes, and characters walking into and through adjacent parts of the split-screen) to be a charming method of keeping the film's energy level up. After all, this film is mostly comprised of people talking about sports statistics.

8/10