Disc Reviews

Draft Day Review

• 20th Jan 2015

Draft Day is the day that the National Football League allows teams to pick their players for the upcoming year. In this case – The general manager of the Cleveland Browns (Kevin Costner) has some decisions to make in the hours approaching draft time after they have acwuired the right to pick the first player before anyone else.

If you are not a sports fan then this one might be a slightly tougher sell as there aren’t even any games being played in this film – it is all about a tense day at the office and on the phone. So in that regard there is no reason not to view this as a kind of “sports thriller” as it does get a bit political, but no less engaging – thanks largely to an entertaining cast.

The story itself propels along nicely with a few shoe-horned personal dramatic agendas for good measure (girlfriend and daddy issues), but the focus on the problem itself does play out in relatively explanatory terms for general audiences to appreciate.

The music score is one that we could swear on a bible John Debney has delivered before. It has that Sporting/American/Campaigning vibe top it that reeks of triumphalism and therefore becomes quite intrusive after a point. Almost like Jerry Goldsmith’s Air Force One score really started to grate the nerves of non-American audiences.

The trouble here with a film like Draft day is that it is so very American. You’d have to be more than just a sports enthusiast to get instantly everything that is going on in this film, you need to know your American Football, and some of the politics involved.

But Costner is on shining form and carries the film through. It perhaps could have been a little bit more tense, and the puzzle it seems has a little bit too much that is predictable come the end, but it’s an entertaining watch.

Steven Hurst