TEAM TURMOIL
Football film gains yards, but doesn’t win
It’s been almost 20 years since Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire demanded “show me the money!” In Hollywood, that means it’s just about time for a remake.
Not that Ivan Reitman’s Draft Day is a shot- by- shot recreation of the Cruise romantic comedy about a football player, his bid for a new contract and the morally bankrupt sports agent who finds his soul with the help of a good woman. But it definitely sets out to reformulate the same blend of human drama and jockstrap sweat that made Cameron Crowe’s 1996 movie a mainstream smash.
This all- American outing features old pro Kevin Costner in the lead as Sonny Weaver Jr., the general manager of the sad- sack Cleveland Browns and son of longtime Cleveland coach Sonny Weaver Sr. Sonny wants to create a winning team that can make Cleveland proud of its flagging NFL franchise. And come draft day, that’s just what he plans to do as he faces off against every other GM in the league to acquire the very best prospects the salary cap allows.
Sonny has first dibs on the top pick: a Heisman Trophywinning college quarterback who looks like the next star. Everybody wants him, but Sonny would rather pick the feisty player with tons of heart and character, a QB- sacking linebacker named Vontae Mack ( Chadwick Boseman).
He loves Vontae and Vontae wants to be a Brown, but Sonny’s boss — the sulphurous owner played to shady perfection by Frank Langella — insists Sonny pick the star QB to put bums in the seats and kindle a little razzle- dazzle to promote signature jersey sales.
This means Sonny is in a nowin situation when the movie opens on the morning of draft day, the biggest event in the NFL outside the Super Bowl.
Fans of the game will be giddy over Reitman’s loving behindthescenes footage and his drive for authenticity throughout the denouement. Every part of this movie feels like something the NFL commissioner would OK personally, which probably explains the real- life NFL commissioner’s presence at the climax. Draft Day wants to cash in on the NFL audience and chances are it will win its opening weekend kickoff, but the movie doesn’t score a single emotional touchdown.
First, Reitman tried a quarterback sneak by handing Costner a subplot about a dead father and his struggle to be seen in his own right, but that play barely makes it to the line of scrimmage because there’s no context. Despite Ellen Burstyn as Costner’s brassy mother, we can’t really wrap our heads around the fatherson dynamic because it’s all backstory. The father is already dead when the movie opens.
Reitman goes deep with a pass aimed at romantic tension on his next play and sets up Jennifer Garner in the end zone as the pretty, spunky team accountant who keeps a cap on Sonny’s salary, but takes everything else off in a bid to make him happy. Garner is a little goofy and wears the cuddly soft look of a puppy for the duration, even when she’s gurgling football chatter like someone born to the game.
Reitman can’t score on a single attempt because he telegraphs his plays before the snap. Everything in this movie is predictable and pat. Even with Costner doing his best, Draft Day never gels as a team effort. It may be enough to win the weekend, but not a season.