Draft Day

Each May, National Football League general managers wheel-and-deal to try to sign the best college players. So, when Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) of the Cleveland Browns gets a call from the Seattle Seahawks, offering to trade their star quarterback, he must decide whether he's willing to sacrifice his first (and perhaps only) chance to build his own dream team or take what looks like a sure thing. Sonny's coach father has just died and his girlfriend (Jennifer Garner)—who is also the team's salary-cap manager—is newly pregnant. Sonny really wants linebacker Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman), and the Browns already have a strong quarterback (Tom Welling), newly recovered from an injury that sidelined him for much of the last season. But the head coach (Denis Leary) desperately wants running back Ray Jennings (Arian Foster), whose father (NFL vet Terry Crews) was also a Brown. And the team's owner (Frank Langella) says that Sonny's job is on the line if he doesn't pick a winner. Directed by Ivan Reitman, this sports dramedy about maintaining the courage of your convictions uses split-screens effectively to heighten the tension and suspense, which takes place in executive offices, rather than the playing field. Costner is characteristically solid (as are Garner and Leary), with Ellen Burstyn costarring as embattled Sonny's outspoken mother and Sean “Diddy” Combs playing a slick agent. While not in the same league as Jerry Maguire or Moneyball, sports fans will undoubtedly enjoy this engaging film. Recommended. (S. Granger)