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Draft Day

May 14, 2023

Draft Day is a 2014 American sports drama film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner. The premise revolves around the fictional general manager of the Cleveland Browns (Costner) deciding what to do after his team acquires the number one draft pick in the upcoming National Football League draft.

Draft Day
Theatrical release poster
Directed byIvan Reitman
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEric Steelberg
Edited by
Music byJohn Debney
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release dates
  • April 7, 2014 (2014-04-07) (Los Angeles)
  • April 11, 2014 (2014-04-11) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$29.5 million[3]

The film premiered in Los Angeles on April 7, 2014[4] and was released in the United States on April 11, 2014. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office failure grossing only $29 million against its $25 million budget. The film was Reitman's final directorial effort before his death in 2022.

Plot

On the morning of the 2014 NFL Draft, Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. must decide how to use the seventh overall pick to improve the team, but he has other problems on his mind. His semi-secret girlfriend Ali Parker, the team's salary cap analyst, is pregnant, and the recent death of Sonny's father causes tension with his mother. Sonny had fired his father, a legendary coach for the Browns which he later admits was for his mother's sake because his father refused to retire even with failing health.

The Seattle Seahawks hold the first overall draft pick, and general manager Tom Michaels offers to trade it to Sonny; this would allow the Browns to draft highly-rated Wisconsin quarterback prospect Bo Callahan. Sonny initially declines, but under orders from team owner Anthony Molina to "make a splash," reluctantly makes the deal, trading away the Browns' first-round draft picks for the current season plus the next two years. The unexpected opportunity to obtain Callahan excites Browns fans, but splits the team's front office and players.

The trade goes public after a tweet by Ohio State linebacker Vontae Mack, who had been Sonny's original choice as first pick. Vontae tells Sonny to re-watch college footage of him and Callahan playing against each other, with Mack coming out on top. Sonny begins to have doubts about Callahan's ability under pressure, and the Browns' investigations also bring Callahan's character into question.

When the draft begins that evening, Sonny agonises over the choice before drafting Vontae Mack at number one. Roger Goodell's announcement of the selection shocks the rest of the league, and disrupts many of their plans for their own picks. Molina is irate and flies back to Cleveland, intent on firing Sonny. Head coach Vince Penn is also incensed and threatens to resign.

Rumors spread about Callahan as other teams avoid selecting him. However, the Seahawks are still in contention to pick Callahan with the seventh pick, and Sonny senses an opportunity. He convinces the rookie general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars to trade him their pick at six in exchange for the Browns' second-round draft picks for that season plus the next two years. Sonny then calls Michaels; in return for passing on Callahan, Sonny demands his first-round picks back, along with punt returner David Putney. After fraught negotiations, the Seahawks seal the deal and choose Callahan at sixth pick. With his now-restored seventh pick, Sonny appeases Penn and Molina by selecting skilled running back Ray Jennings of Florida State, himself the son of a former Browns player.

Molina and his team celebrate an outstanding draft for the Browns. After the draft party, Sonny reconciles with his mother over his excellent draft performance and her soon-to-be first grandchild.

Cast

Production

When the idea was first made public, the film was to be centered on the Buffalo Bills, but the studio subsequently changed it to the Cleveland Browns because of cheaper production costs in Ohio.[8]

Crowd reactions of fans at the actual 2013 NFL Draft, as well as Cleveland Browns fans at local bars, were filmed. Cameos with real-life NFL figures such as league commissioner Roger Goodell and ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman were filmed before and after the draft took place. The rest of the film began filming on May 8, 2013.

2014 NFL Draft

As in the film, the Cleveland Browns made splashes at the draft, trading up to select quarterback Johnny Manziel with the 22nd pick. The team also made several deals, trading away their fourth pick to the Buffalo Bills but for their ninth pick, as well as their 2015 first round pick. They later traded up to the eighth pick to draft Justin Gilbert. Finally, after watching Manziel drop farther than projected, they again traded up for the 22nd pick. Chris Berman, who played himself in the fictionalized draft, commented at the 2014 NFL Draft that the events surrounding the Cleveland Browns were more exciting than the film. Unlike the film, the Browns selected the much-hyped Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, as opposed to passing on Bo Callahan, the fictionalized first pick favorite.

Marketing

The first poster and trailer for the film were released on December 23, 2013.[9]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $28.8 million in North America with an additional $604,801 overseas for a worldwide total of $29.5 million, against a budget of $25 million.[10]

The film grossed $9.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing in fourth place at the box office behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rio 2, and Oculus (the latter two also being new releases).[11]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 60% based on 162 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's perfectly pleasant for sports buffs and Costner fans, but overall, Draft Day lives down to its title by relying too heavily on the sort of by-the-numbers storytelling that only a statistician could love."[12] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[14]

Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper gave the film a "B", stating the film is "a sentimental, predictable, sometimes implausible but thoroughly entertaining, old-fashioned piece."

On the contrary, Jack Hamilton of Slate was harshly critical. "The 'filmmaking' here consists of making sure the camera is pointed at people who are explaining the film's plot to one another, preferably while they are wearing logos and standing in front of more logos," he wrote. He suggested the NFL's involvement had made the film too upbeat. "[It] isn't so much a movie as a movielike infomercial for the kinder, gentler NFL ... In the wake of labor strife, off-field scandals, and the ongoing CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) crisis, the NFL is doubling down on its fantasy of paternalism, and Draft Day is that fantasy's porn film."[15]

Former Green Bay Packers vice president Andrew Brandt criticized Draft Day as "lacking any true depiction of how an NFL team operates leading up to and during the draft", and less realistic about the business of sports than Jerry Maguire and Moneyball.[16]

The screenplay was the number one script on the 2012 Black List survey of unproduced screenplays and WhatCulture listed it as the 10th best script of the 2010s. It was argued that the script "follows one of the central tenets of screenwriting which is, 'thou shalt make things as hard as possible for your protagonist'". However, it was also stated that "[some] of this high-octane drama was lost in the screen translation, which is a shame, since the script is as good as it gets."[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "DRAFT DAY (15)". Lions Gate Entertainment. British Board of Film Classification. August 7, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  2. ^ "Feature Film Study" (PDF). Film L.A. Inc. 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  3. ^ "Draft Day (2014)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  4. ^ Burton, Danielle (April 8, 2014). "'Draft Day' Premiere: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner Cheered as Stars Take the Field-Like Carpet". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Production Begins on Sports Dramedy DRAFT DAY; Sean Combs and Terry Crews Join the Cast". Collider. April 25, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  6. ^ Patten, Dominic (May 14, 2013). "Sam Elliott Joins Ivan Reitman's 'Draft Day'". deadline.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  7. ^ Venable, Nick (May 13, 2013). "Smallville's Tom Welling Hits The Gridiron In Ivan Reitman's Draft Day". cinemablend.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  8. ^ "NFL Draft movie starring Kevin Costner moves from Bills to Browns". sbnation.com. March 6, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  9. ^ "Check Out the Trailer and Poster for Draft Day, Starring Kevin Costner". comingsoon.net. December 23, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  10. ^ McClintock, Pamela (April 13, 2014). "Box Office: 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' Trumps 'Rio 2' With $41.4 Million". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  11. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for April 11-13, 2014". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  12. ^ "Draft Day (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  13. ^ "Draft Day Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  14. ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017.
  15. ^ Hamilton, Jack (April 10, 2014). "Draft Day movie: Kevin Costner and Roger Goodell star in the NFL's version of Moneyball". Slate. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  16. ^ Brandt, Andrew (April 16, 2014). "'Draft Day' Reality Checks". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  17. ^ Hynes, David (February 2, 2017). "10 Best Movie Screenplays Since 2010". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.

External links

May 14, 2023
draft, 2014, american, sports, drama, film, directed, ivan, reitman, starring, kevin, costner, jennifer, garner, premise, revolves, around, fictional, general, manager, cleveland, browns, costner, deciding, what, after, team, acquires, number, draft, pick, upc. Draft Day is a 2014 American sports drama film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner The premise revolves around the fictional general manager of the Cleveland Browns Costner deciding what to do after his team acquires the number one draft pick in the upcoming National Football League draft Draft DayTheatrical release posterDirected byIvan ReitmanWritten byRajiv JosephScott RothmanProduced byIvan ReitmanAli BellJoe MedjuckStarringKevin CostnerJennifer GarnerDenis LearyFrank LangellaSam ElliottEllen BurstynChadwick BosemanCinematographyEric SteelbergEdited bySheldon KahnDana E GlaubermanMusic byJohn DebneyProductioncompaniesSummit EntertainmentOddLot EntertainmentMontecito Picture CompanyDistributed byLionsgateRelease datesApril 7 2014 2014 04 07 Los Angeles April 11 2014 2014 04 11 United States Running time110 minutes 1 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 25 million 2 Box office 29 5 million 3 The film premiered in Los Angeles on April 7 2014 4 and was released in the United States on April 11 2014 It received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office failure grossing only 29 million against its 25 million budget The film was Reitman s final directorial effort before his death in 2022 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 2014 NFL Draft 3 2 Marketing 4 Reception 4 1 Box office 4 2 Critical response 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksPlot EditOn the morning of the 2014 NFL Draft Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr must decide how to use the seventh overall pick to improve the team but he has other problems on his mind His semi secret girlfriend Ali Parker the team s salary cap analyst is pregnant and the recent death of Sonny s father causes tension with his mother Sonny had fired his father a legendary coach for the Browns which he later admits was for his mother s sake because his father refused to retire even with failing health The Seattle Seahawks hold the first overall draft pick and general manager Tom Michaels offers to trade it to Sonny this would allow the Browns to draft highly rated Wisconsin quarterback prospect Bo Callahan Sonny initially declines but under orders from team owner Anthony Molina to make a splash reluctantly makes the deal trading away the Browns first round draft picks for the current season plus the next two years The unexpected opportunity to obtain Callahan excites Browns fans but splits the team s front office and players The trade goes public after a tweet by Ohio State linebacker Vontae Mack who had been Sonny s original choice as first pick Vontae tells Sonny to re watch college footage of him and Callahan playing against each other with Mack coming out on top Sonny begins to have doubts about Callahan s ability under pressure and the Browns investigations also bring Callahan s character into question When the draft begins that evening Sonny agonises over the choice before drafting Vontae Mack at number one Roger Goodell s announcement of the selection shocks the rest of the league and disrupts many of their plans for their own picks Molina is irate and flies back to Cleveland intent on firing Sonny Head coach Vince Penn is also incensed and threatens to resign Rumors spread about Callahan as other teams avoid selecting him However the Seahawks are still in contention to pick Callahan with the seventh pick and Sonny senses an opportunity He convinces the rookie general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars to trade him their pick at six in exchange for the Browns second round draft picks for that season plus the next two years Sonny then calls Michaels in return for passing on Callahan Sonny demands his first round picks back along with punt returner David Putney After fraught negotiations the Seahawks seal the deal and choose Callahan at sixth pick With his now restored seventh pick Sonny appeases Penn and Molina by selecting skilled running back Ray Jennings of Florida State himself the son of a former Browns player Molina and his team celebrate an outstanding draft for the Browns After the draft party Sonny reconciles with his mother over his excellent draft performance and her soon to be first grandchild Cast EditKevin Costner as Sonny Weaver Jr the general manager of the Cleveland Browns 5 Jennifer Garner as Ali Parker team s finance manager and Sonny s love interest 5 Denis Leary as Vince Penn the head coach of the Cleveland Browns replacing Sonny s father 5 Frank Langella as Anthony Molina the owner of the Cleveland Browns 5 Sam Elliott as Coach Moore the head coach at the University of Wisconsin Former coach to Bo Callahan 6 Ellen Burstyn as Barb Weaver Sonny s mother 5 Chadwick Boseman as Vontae Mack a top prospect in the upcoming draft class who previously played linebacker at Ohio State University 5 Tom Welling as Brian Drew the Browns starting quarterback from the previous year 7 Terry Crews as Earl Jennings Hall of Fame Cleveland Brown legend 5 Kevin Dunn as Marvin the Browns organization s chief representative at the NFL Draft 5 Brad William Henke as Tony Bagel Bagli the Browns strength and conditioning coach W Earl Brown as Ralph Mowry the Browns Director Of Security 5 Wade Williams as O Reilly Browns War Room David Ramsey as Thompson Browns War Room Timothy Simons as Marx Browns War Room Griffin Newman as Rick the Intern Arian Foster as Ray Jennings running back from Florida State University amp Earl s son Rosanna Arquette as Angie Sonny s ex wife 5 Sean Combs as Chris Crawford sports agent representing Bo Callahan the 1 prospect in the upcoming draft class 5 Josh Pence as Bo Callahan Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and team captain from University of Wisconsin 5 Chi McBride as Walt Gordon team president of the Seattle Seahawks 5 Patrick St Esprit as Tom Michaels general manager of the Seattle Seahawks Christopher Cousins as Max Stone general manager of the Buffalo Bills Russ Brandon as himself Wallace Langham as Pete Begler general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Breen as Bill Zotti general manager of the Houston Texans Pat Healy as Jeff Carson general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars Roger Goodell as himself Jon Gruden as himself Jim Brown as himself Bernie Kosar as himself Chris Berman as himself Rich Eisen as himself Ray Lewis as himself Alex Marvez as himselfProduction EditWhen the idea was first made public the film was to be centered on the Buffalo Bills but the studio subsequently changed it to the Cleveland Browns because of cheaper production costs in Ohio 8 Crowd reactions of fans at the actual 2013 NFL Draft as well as Cleveland Browns fans at local bars were filmed Cameos with real life NFL figures such as league commissioner Roger Goodell and ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman were filmed before and after the draft took place The rest of the film began filming on May 8 2013 2014 NFL Draft Edit As in the film the Cleveland Browns made splashes at the draft trading up to select quarterback Johnny Manziel with the 22nd pick The team also made several deals trading away their fourth pick to the Buffalo Bills but for their ninth pick as well as their 2015 first round pick They later traded up to the eighth pick to draft Justin Gilbert Finally after watching Manziel drop farther than projected they again traded up for the 22nd pick Chris Berman who played himself in the fictionalized draft commented at the 2014 NFL Draft that the events surrounding the Cleveland Browns were more exciting than the film Unlike the film the Browns selected the much hyped Heisman Trophy winning quarterback as opposed to passing on Bo Callahan the fictionalized first pick favorite Marketing Edit The first poster and trailer for the film were released on December 23 2013 9 Reception EditBox office Edit The film grossed 28 8 million in North America with an additional 604 801 overseas for a worldwide total of 29 5 million against a budget of 25 million 10 The film grossed 9 8 million in its opening weekend finishing in fourth place at the box office behind Captain America The Winter Soldier Rio 2 and Oculus the latter two also being new releases 11 Critical response Edit On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 60 based on 162 reviews with an average rating of 5 9 10 The site s critical consensus reads It s perfectly pleasant for sports buffs and Costner fans but overall Draft Day lives down to its title by relying too heavily on the sort of by the numbers storytelling that only a statistician could love 12 Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on 33 critics indicating mixed or average reviews 13 Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B on an A to F scale 14 Chicago Sun Times critic Richard Roeper gave the film a B stating the film is a sentimental predictable sometimes implausible but thoroughly entertaining old fashioned piece On the contrary Jack Hamilton of Slate was harshly critical The filmmaking here consists of making sure the camera is pointed at people who are explaining the film s plot to one another preferably while they are wearing logos and standing in front of more logos he wrote He suggested the NFL s involvement had made the film too upbeat It isn t so much a movie as a movielike infomercial for the kinder gentler NFL In the wake of labor strife off field scandals and the ongoing CTE chronic traumatic encephalopathy crisis the NFL is doubling down on its fantasy of paternalism and Draft Day is that fantasy s porn film 15 Former Green Bay Packers vice president Andrew Brandt criticized Draft Day as lacking any true depiction of how an NFL team operates leading up to and during the draft and less realistic about the business of sports than Jerry Maguire and Moneyball 16 The screenplay was the number one script on the 2012 Black List survey of unproduced screenplays and WhatCulture listed it as the 10th best script of the 2010s It was argued that the script follows one of the central tenets of screenwriting which is thou shalt make things as hard as possible for your protagonist However it was also stated that some of this high octane drama was lost in the screen translation which is a shame since the script is as good as it gets 17 See also EditList of American football filmsReferences Edit DRAFT DAY 15 Lions Gate Entertainment British Board of Film Classification August 7 2014 Retrieved August 7 2014 Feature Film Study PDF Film L A Inc 2014 Retrieved June 27 2018 Draft Day 2014 Box Office Mojo IMDb Retrieved August 19 2014 Burton Danielle April 8 2014 Draft Day Premiere Kevin Costner Jennifer Garner Cheered as Stars Take the Field Like Carpet The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved April 13 2014 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Production Begins on Sports Dramedy DRAFT DAY Sean Combs and Terry Crews Join the Cast Collider April 25 2013 Retrieved May 16 2013 Patten Dominic May 14 2013 Sam Elliott Joins Ivan Reitman s Draft Day deadline com Retrieved April 18 2014 Venable Nick May 13 2013 Smallville s Tom Welling Hits The Gridiron In Ivan Reitman s Draft Day cinemablend com Retrieved April 18 2014 NFL Draft movie starring Kevin Costner moves from Bills to Browns sbnation com March 6 2013 Retrieved April 19 2022 Check Out the Trailer and Poster for Draft Day Starring Kevin Costner comingsoon net December 23 2013 Retrieved April 18 2014 McClintock Pamela April 13 2014 Box Office Captain America Winter Soldier Trumps Rio 2 With 41 4 Million hollywoodreporter com Retrieved April 18 2014 Weekend Box Office Results for April 11 13 2014 Box Office Mojo Internet Movie Database Retrieved August 7 2014 Draft Day 2014 Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Retrieved April 29 2021 Draft Day Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive Retrieved April 18 2014 CinemaScore cinemascore com Archived from the original on September 16 2017 Hamilton Jack April 10 2014 Draft Day movie Kevin Costner and Roger Goodell star in the NFL s version of Moneyball Slate Retrieved April 11 2014 Brandt Andrew April 16 2014 Draft Day Reality Checks Sports Illustrated Retrieved February 8 2015 Hynes David February 2 2017 10 Best Movie Screenplays Since 2010 WhatCulture com Retrieved February 4 2021 External links EditOfficial website Draft Day at IMDb Draft Day at Box Office Mojo Draft Day at Rotten Tomatoes Draft Day at Metacritic Draft Day at AllMovie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Draft Day amp oldid 1151620144, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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