"Draft Day"

I'm a movie reviewer today. Well, not really but I did see Ivan Reitman's new movie about the NFL Draft, "Draft Day." So I figured that I'd say a few things about the movie. First of all, it would have been impossible to make this movie if the draft still kicked off on Saturdays. The prime time draft of the past few years gives us a draft day. And now, a movie.

"Draft Day" stars Kevin Costner as Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. Costner has spent the past couple of weeks on the talk show and podcast circuit pushing the movie. He's said several times that he would never have done the movie if the teams were fictitious. Smart move. Reitman did a fantastic job of creating a "real" draft. Atmosphere, teams, players, and all of the usual draft day characters. He got it all. Most importantly, he got it all correct. Reitman filmed his fictional 2014 NFL Draft at the real 2013 NFL Draft. I remember NFL Network's Rich Eisen talking about the movie at last year's draft. He spoke of reading lines and filming a scene with fictional Cleveland Browns owner Harvey Molina, played by Frank Langella. Eisen, Mike Mayock, Deion Sanders, Chris Berman, Mel Kiper were all in the film. They even got Daniel Jeremiah in a background shot. Roger "the Goods" Goodell was in the movie. All of the draft day characters were present. I would have guessed that accurately recreating the NFL Draft scene and atmosphere would have been impossible. Reitman succeeded. This movie would have failed miserably, in my eyes, if Reitman hadn't gotten the draft accurate. This is sacred ground. You don't monkey with the draft.

I highly recommend this movie. Fans of football, especially draftniks, will enjoy it. I think that the story-line has enough to appeal to non-football fans. Nice cast with Costner, Langella, Jennifer Garner, Dennis Leary, Ellen Burstyn, Chadwick Boseman, Sam Elliott, Terry Crews, Sean Combs, and Rosanna Arquette. Houston Texans running back Arian Foster made his acting debut as Florida State running back Ray Jennings. Michael Cera was outstanding as a Browns intern. Agent David Dunn played an agent. Cleveland Browns, and former Cal, center Alex Mack briefly played himself. Jim Brown and Bernie Kosar played the Browns legends that they are. I also liked that the Seattle Seahawks sorta, kinda played the bad guys. Fitting. One of the trades is a little far-fetched. I'll give Reitman a break on that one simply for dramatic reasons. Overall, I'd say that he nailed the draft. Flea Flicker says, check it out.