Plot: What’s it about?
When it comes to sports movies it really should begin and end with Kevin Costner. Dating way back to 1984’s American Flyers (a very overlooked movie about cycling), Costner has shown us that he’s got this everyman quality and that translates very well to the world of sports. Obviously, he’s known for his more high-profile films like Field of Dreams and gave the world of golf something to cheer about with Tin Cup (Costner is an avid golfer). In 1999 he returned back to the world of baseball with For Love of the Game. So now, in 2014, we find Costner as the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns on the second biggest day of the football year. This is what they call a no-brainer, folks – you put Kevin Costner in a sports movie just like you put Jason Statham in an action movie – it just works. However when looked at from the top, this might not make sense. A sports movie directed by Ivan Reitman, a Director known mainly for comedy (Ghostbusters, Twins and Kindergarten Cop to name a few) this could be looked at as the football version of Major League. But let’s get to it – less analyzing and more reviewing.
Costner plays Sonny Weaver Jr., the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns. He’s just learned that he’s going to be a father and also has the additional stress of having the #1 draft pick. The Browns have struggled in recent years (that’s usually the case when you have the #1 draft pick) and the team’s manager, Coach Penn (Denis Leary), is doing the best with the team he has. Sonny has the span of 12 hours to turn the team’s morale around with a top notch player. This is where things get interesting. The other General Managers of the other teams are all vying for that coveted player, so when the Seattle Seahawks make Sonny and offer he can’t refuse – he doesn’t. The Browns now have the #1 player, but Sonny has had to sacrifice quite a bit to get it. However as the day progresses and the stress builds, he begins to question if he made the right call. His job is on the line and being wrong will leave him unemployed. Will Sonny stick to his guns or trust his gut?
I’m a football fan, though I have to admit that I prefer college as opposed to the NFL. Don’t know why, I just do. I do know that very rarely, if ever, the #1 draft pick actually ends up being all their touted to be. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule and their last names are both “Manning.” I won’t get into debates, but suffice it to say that I think they’ve delivered on what was promised by their teams. I also have to admit that I really enjoyed the film. Given that Ivan Reitman is usually known for comedy, it was a nice change of pace to see him helming a drama. Costner, of course, delivers and does what he does best by playing it low key. Jennifer Garner seems once again miscast as she was in Dallas Buyer’s Club, but it’s of no consequence. One thing that really struck me (and the filmmakers) was the use of the “NFL” and all the official teams. We’re treated to a myriad of scenes with cuts like “Kansas City…home of the Chiefs” and so forth. It gave the film a very real quality to it. Is it the best football movie made? Nope. Still, it’s entertaining and will likely become a tradition to watch near the NFL draft. Recommended.
Video: How’s it look?
As a new to Blu-ray film, Draft Day certainly looks great. The 2.40:1 AVC HD image sparkles from beginning to end and we’re treated to a variety of elements which give this a very unique look. There are a lot of scenes with Costner’s character chatting with other GM’s and we get a split screen, though they’ll walk through to the other side or a shoulder or elbow will overlap into the other “side” of the screen. I don’t know why I make mention of this, but it’s a pretty interesting effect. Flesh tones are warm and natural and detail, as expected, is crystal clear. It’s no secret that Kevin Costner is aging and though his performance was wonderful, he’s not done any favors by the clarity of this presentation. I noticed no macroblocking, contrast seemed solid and this is what we’ve come to expect from a new to Blu-ray film. Top notch.
Audio: How’s it sound?
There are some sports movies that make full use of their included DTS HD Master Audio soundtracks, but I don’t consider Draft Day to be among them. Why? It’s a sports movie without the sports. Yes, we do see some plays, but they’re on computer screens so we don’t get that “thump” that’s usually associated with football films. That said, the mix seems to have a very understated quality to it with the dialogue taking front and center. Vocals are rich, clean and crisp and even though Costner tends to mumble a bit, it’s of no fault by the sound mix. Surrounds are used very sparingly, but do add to the ambiance in a few selected scenes. It’s a good, standard mix that’s sure to satisfy.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Draft Day features a pretty good selection of extras with a better than expected “Making of…” featurette.
- Audio Commentary – Writers Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman combine for a very informative commentary track. A lot of this information is redundant if you watch the “On the Clock” featurette first, but they give plenty of insight into the inner-workings of the draft as well as the casting choices, getting Reitman to direct and so forth.
- Welcome to Prime Time – Running at nine minutes this is your typical EPK with some interviews with the cast and crew as well as a some behind the scenes footage.
- On the Clock: The Making of Draft Day
- Preseason – Ok, now this I wasn’t expecting. I selected the first part of this and saw that the running time was nearly an hour! This is a pretty immersive featurette that features interviews writers Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman and gives the history of the script, what they had to do to write it and how it eventually fell into Ivan Reitman’s hands. Evidently there’s a site called “Blacklist” that has unclaimed scripts and Reitman and Costner were involved and the rest is history.
Postseason – While not as long, this one is only 30 some odd minutes, this is also more of the same as we get some pretty intense interviews with the cast and crew, some of the choices as to the unique visual look and feel of the film and so on. Both are very interesting and the entire segment runs nearly as long as the film itself.
