Draft Day With Kevin Costner: A Movie Review of Sorts With Extra TMI

There is a reason I don’t do Movie Reviews. Movies are viewed in a theater. The troubling word in the phrase “going to see a movie” is the word ‘going’.  Because, that’s just a lot. But now that I am feeling better, I am more inclined to do stuff. So last week, when I got an invite to go to a pre-screening of a Kevin Costner movie, that was being held at “my” movie theater and Kordell Stewart was one of the hosts, I decided to venture into THE WORLD. The event was last night and I had a blast.

I invited a fellow blogger, @KeeneTV who freelances for lots of big important blogs, to join me and she was totally down with a free movie. Free is good. Click the link and follow her, she is waaay better than me. And smart and pretty. The catch was before the movie she had to spend a lot of time with me at dinner. Going to dinner with a hermit can be challenging. The hermit has not spoken to anyone but her dog in eons so the hermit has a lot to say. A whole lot. Don’t even try to talk to the hermit. She isn’t interested. She will not shut up. The first five or six “funny” stories are not so bad. But by the end of dinner, you will be mentally exhausted. This will be important when we get to the actual movie review.

So after dinner, where I discussed “meat boxes” a lot (don’t ask) we get to the theater and find the pre-movie media event in full swing. There is a mob of Morehouse football players. Guess what they were interested in? Seeing Porsha.  I guess Tamaratattles.com is not popular among the Maroon Tigers. Not only did they not get to see Porsha, there was a joke in the movie where someone shares they played football in college and the comeback was, “Well yeah, Division II !” Ouch.

Kordell was there because 92.9 was there and he does a sports show for the station. Big Tigger from V-103 was also there as well as a few former NFL players. The media event was a gamers dream. The hosts and attendees participated in an NFL Madden Gaming Lounge, the OMG Booth and other sports themed activities. Kordell was pretty low-key. At some point he and a couple of guys were posing with some watches in a box, not sure what that was about. I think there was a drawing perhaps? When Big Tigger and the other NFL plays were warming up the audience with games and prizes, Kordell was nowhere to be seen. They did mention that he was “in da building” but I think he was probably “at da club” by then. I was hoping I could report something scandalous, about my run in with Kordell, but I got nuthin’. I will say he looks better on the show than in person, and he seemed shorter than I imagined.

I really liked the movie. Kevin Costner is the general manager for the Cleveland Browns who calls the shots for the NFL draft. His girlfriend is played by Jennifer Garner and they are going through some thangs. Toss in the fact that his father died the week before and a domineering mother played by Ellen Burstyn and Costner’s character, Sonny Weaver, is highly stressed on Draft Day.

I’m the kind of person who gets emotional during Christmas commercials, so there were plenty of times where I was really close to shedding a tear. That would have been embarrassing in a football movie. But there were a lot of moments where I giggled out loud.  Griffin Newman plays an intern named Rick to perfection. He steals every single scene he is in. Eventually, just seeing his face had everyone cracking up before he even delivered a line! I also thought Chadwick Boseman was great playing one of the hopeful draftees, Vontae Mack.

This movie is not about deep thoughts, or solving a mystery, or sex, or car chases or shit getting blown up. While it is about football, you don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy the movie. It’s really a movie about making the best choices in very a stressful situation.  It’s good clean fun. It’s a movie you can take your kids to  (some cuss words but no sex or drugs) and still enjoy yourself.

The movie takes place over the course of one day leading up to the big tension-filled ending. Who will Weaver take in the draft? Whatever will he do?  It is obvious in the very beginning of the movie how the whole thing will play out. The ending is anticlimactic, but the twists and turns on how you get to the end are a fun ride. No one is going to win an Oscar for this movie. The box office will likely not set any records. That said, I enjoyed this predictable little movie.  My “date” for the evening was not quite as enthusiastic about it but I think she liked it well enough. Likewise, I thought she was a fantastic date and she was probably REALLY ready to get home to her boyfriend. 🙂

Here is the official synopsis, because I am  a bit out of it day and this probably made no sense at all.

On the day of the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) has the opportunity to save football in Cleveland when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL.

DRAFT DAY hits theaters on Friday, April 11, 2014!