“Draft Day was exactly what you’d want in a film: a fun time at the movies. I love when I learn something new and in an entertaining way.
Before this, I knew nothing about the draft. Granted, I’m not that big on football, but I am big on basketball. I’d imagine their drafts are pretty similar. The main reason I never cared much is that I don’t know anything about the players being drafted. It’s not until they’re on a team and I see them in action that I take notice. Even then, unless they’re exceptional, it’s more than likely a few games until I really pay attention. What the film did well was build a character driven and emotional story around the suspense and excitement of the draft, which made for a very engaging movie.
Sure some of it may have been predictable. I pretty quickly figured out what was not going to happen, and soon after I figured out what was going to happen. But that was only part of it. Just when I thought I would be unsatisfied with that obvious conclusion, there was more. And it was all edge of your seat excitement, even when I knew where it was going.
Kevin Costner did a fantastic job really grounding the film. We saw the whole thing thru his steady gaze, and he’s what really made it. Because I cared about him, I cared about his team. Simple as that. I also really liked how strong and level headed Jennifer Garner’s character was. Now that she’s starting to find better roles, I’ve come to appreciate her much more, and recognize that she is a good actress. Just got kinda stuck in superficial actress hell when I was first introduced to her work. I also thought that Tom Welling as perfect casting as the team’s current quarterback. You needed someone who looked like a tough football player, but who could believably be the heart of the team as the most honest and hardworking player out there. Who better fits that description than Clark Kent?
Another small bonus that caught my eye was the way that the split screen shots were done. There’s a lot of phone calling involved with draft days, which mean lots of split screens to get both sides of the conversation. Rather than forcing everyone into their boxes, there was this cool fluidity to it, where actors would extend past their boundaries and often swap places. I’m prolly not describing it right, but it was cool. As was the film in general
Draft Day – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/