Draft Day

A football movie minus the football, Draft Day nevertheless plays a game without a clear-cut winner.

As the title suggests, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at the day leading up to the annual NFL Draft, when the future of a franchise might hinge on a hunch or a hope. The level of authenticity should please fans, yet its embellishments and efforts to cater to a wider demographic might frustrate those same viewers.

The focus is on Cleveland, where the Browns and their devoted fans look to the first pick in the draft to help turn around the organization. For their general manager, Sonny (Kevin Costner), the right pick could allow him to either become a hero or be fired by the team’s eccentric owner (Frank Langella).

The experts tell Sonny to take a quarterback (Josh Pence) who is projected to be a sure-fire superstar. Claiming the current signal-caller (Tom Welling) is just fine, the Browns’ new coach (Denis Leary) says otherwise, prompting Sonny to pursue some 11th-hour trades with other teams for the coveted top pick. The coach would rather have a top linebacker (Chadwick Boseman) with hometown ties.

Meanwhile, family drama interferes at the wrong time when Sonny’s relationship with the team accountant (Jennifer Garner) becomes public, and his mother (Ellen Burstyn) decides to poke her nose into things.

The slick crowd-pleaser marks a rare dramatic foray for veteran director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), who keeps the pace lively and employs frequent split-screen visuals to capture the high-stakes urgency of the proceedings.

The script by newcomers Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph is a well-researched look at the draft-day pressure from multiple angles – including team owners, coaches, scouts, fans and media pundits – which leads to cutthroat wrangling and desperate last-minute negotiations.

Costner’s charisma and charm help to make the film consistently engaging, and the supporting cast is strong, except for Garner, whose trumped-up personal drama is an obvious and unnecessary ploy to lure female viewers.

The film was made with the full cooperation of the NFL — complete with cameos by commissioner Roger Goodell and others — which allows for the use of actual team names and logos. It also feels spun from the league’s publicity machine at times.

Yet despite its knowledge of the process, Draft Day fails to score a touchdown. It’s more like a field goal that slips through the uprights.

Rated PG-13, 109 minutes.