Draft Day *** (PG-13) Here’s a fictionalized pro football counterpart to 2011's terrific insider baseball drama, Moneyball. Though it’s not as good, gridiron fans who obsess over their fantasy leagues, and live or die with their favorite teams’ picks in the annual re-stocking pageant from the collegiate ranks should be pretty satisfied with this depiction of a Cleveland Browns general manager (Kevin Costner) struggling through one very long day, deciding what to do with the #1 overall pick he’s just acquired, in the face of an almost comical array of pressures and problems. Those begin with an owner (Frank Langella), new coach (Denis Leary) and fan base demanding he knock one out of the park - presumably by taking a quarterback who is the consensus choice for anchoring any franchise’s future. At the other end, he’s just learned that his girlfriend (Jennifer Garner), who is also the team’s money maven, is pregnant.
The day’s events spin out of control, both professionally and personally, building to the evening’s nationally-televised spectacle of teams announcing their choices. The QB is supposedly golden, but Kevin has vague misgivings, and other scenarios rattling around in his noggin. Although some of the distractions and hysterics around him border on the absurd, when crunch time comes, all the mayhem is justified by a terrific climactic sequence. Sports movies invariably build to the big game. This one does the same, even with all the "players" in suits, and no pigskins being tossed or carried. Most afficionados tend to compare the yearly draft field to a chessboard. This movie shows us the underlying high-stakes poker game, as well. (4/11/14)