Super schmaltzy and a little too on-the-nose, but it works despite its clichés.

It's no Moneyball, but certainly makes for an enjoyable couple hours. Like most sports movies, there's a decent amount of hand-holding and over-explaining for the non sports fans, and the die-hards won't find the behind-the-scenes proceedings 100% air-tight, but it's worth your time, at the very least on DVD. Especially considering how eerily similar it is to the current draft situation, with more than a few Manziel parallels throughout (though I know how literally TexAgs can take things, so I'm not actually comparing Manziel to Bo Callahan, the number one prospect, just saying there are loose parallels that can be made here and there between him and the various teams).

There's no bigger stickler than me when it comes to sports movies, but in the end its earnestness won me over. I was able to look past most of the minor "liberties" taken, save for Callahan being referred to as the "2014 Heisman Trophy winner" at the "2014 NFL Draft." Still, even that little botch made me chuckle.

I doubt anyone will outright love this movie, but you can't really dislike it either. It's a fun, mostly-competent crowd-pleaser, with just enough heart.

http://youtu.be/K3SlVsdUuBY




[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/11/2014 8:54p).]

Also, just as a bit of trivia, I doubt many people will recognize the actor who plays Callahan, if only because he played Armie Hammer's body double / twin in The Social Network. You saw him in a ton of scenes, just with Armie Hammer's face computer grafted over his. So it's cool he's finally getting some real roles now, as he also played a young Ducard / Liam Neeson in flashbacks in The Dark Knight Rises.

I really enjoyed it, maybe even more than moneyball. The acting isn't as good good by any means but I enjoy a film about football more than one about baseball. The split screens were kinda odd but it worked. I caught the 2014 Heisman thing too. It was a fun film and showed a little how things go during the draft. I'd recommend it to any one that likes draft stuff

I saw the previews to this and thought to myself


"how in the world do you make a movie about a franchise and the draft"


who gives a F!

What else is there to this movie, what am I missing?

Saw it tonight and enjoyed it despite its little issues here and there.

I had to chuckle with the editing at one point though when Costner pushes the door to his office closed walks to the other side of the office, turns around, and Garner walks into the doorway with the office door still open.

Lots of movies have little editing errors like this, but that one seemed kind of obvious.

Enjoyable movie overall, though, and definitely some Manziel parallels in there.

Minor spoiler sort of



I tought Callahan was going to be gay




End spoiler sort of

quote:

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I saw the previews to this and thought to myself


"how in the world do you make a movie about a franchise and the draft"


who gives a F!

What else is there to this movie, what am I missing?

---

Pressure situation, ticking clock, competing egos/interests, and millions of dollars on the line. If done even decently well, how would a movie about the draft not make for a good movie?

What you're missing is that what causes you to be invested in a movie is not necessarily the plot/situation. It's good/empathetic/conflicting characters, which this movie has plenty of. Again, it's no where near perfect, but it definitely has the right ingredients.

Heck, I had two friends sell a pilot a few years back that took place entirely at the NBA draft. Got them meetings/jobs all over town. No matter the sport, the draft can make for great drama. It makes instant millionaires out of kids who have entire extended families to support. Jobs are on the line, from the front office to veterans athletes. The draft affects entire fan bases, and can change an organization drastically in a single day. How is a setting like that not ripe for great conflict/drama?

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/11/2014 11:29p).]

sounds... super cheesy

I thought it would be super cheesy as well, but it exceeded my expectations and turned out to be a pretty good movie. I thought the pacing was great, and really didn't have any boring scenes.

quote:

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"how in the world do you make a movie about a franchise and the draft"


who gives a F!

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This. Why do I care about something that happens every year by the same ****ty teams?

If that's a rhetorical question and you just don't care then that's fine. But if you're actually asking, TCTTS gave a pretty good answer above.

Not sufficiently enough for me to actually care about it.

I deal with clock ticking, big money situations all the time at my job, but it doesn't mean I think it should be made into a movie.

Some of you seem personally offended by the premise of the movie. Why rant? Just don't see the movie if you are so hot and bothered about it. I just do not understand the swearing and ranting over whether or not to see an entertaining movie.

Where am I ranting? I guess because I think it's a totally pointless movie, you think I should just keep my comments to myself.

Saw it last night and enjoyed it well enough, though it was fairly predictable. Definitely not something you have to see in theaters, I agree. This will be a movie you watch on a plane later this summer, and it will move those two hours by at a decent pace as you approach Phoenix Sky Harbor.

I'm sure Aggies will definitely think of Johnny when they see some of the concerns they have the GMs considering in the movie, though I'm definitely not comparing the Bo character and JFF. Thought it was kind of cool to see Arian Foster get to be in a movie about the draft while not having been drafted himself. I'm sure that's what everyone says.

It was pretty good but a little heavy on the cheese. I thought it played like a 2 hour NFL commercial.

quote:

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I guess because I think it's a totally pointless movie, you think I should just keep my comments to myself.

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It's because you're making a statement like this without having even seen the movie. If you thought it was pointless after having actually seen it, that's totally fine. Otherwise, the "why should I care" posts just come across as somewhat ignorant, like you're personally offended by a piece of harmless entertainment.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/12/2014 1:24p).]

quote:

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I deal with clock ticking, big money situations all the time at my job, but it doesn't mean I think it should be made into a movie.

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As long as you were a compelling character, ANYTHING can be made into a movie. Your arc could be, "guy finally learns to stop prejudging things despite his limited foresight."

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/12/2014 1:28p).]

I'm already burned out by all the real-life draft nonsense, to the point that other than seeing where Johnny goes I would rather not hear anything about it. To be subjected to a fictional account of what I consider the superfluous sports event in the world, well it would just make me want to poke out my eyes with a curling iron. Doesn't matter how well crafted the script is or how interesting the characters.

Oh and if it portrays the Browns front office doing a single thing that is positive for their team, it's pure science fiction. If you enjoyed this you waive your right to complain about any movie about wizards, or hobbits, or superheroes, or aliens. Same thing goes for Major League.

TexAgs never ceases to confuse and amaze me.

I never expected such strong, preconceived opinions about a movie chronicling the NFL Draft. And this is coming from someone who didn't even love it.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/12/2014 3:14p).]

Costner was good as usual.

quote:

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It's because you're making a statement like this without having even seen the movie.

---

It's the same statement I made about Monuments Men, yet that one seemed to resonate.

I'll freely admit, that while I've always hated the hype of the draft, year after year of pathetic Jerry Jones-run Cowboys drafts have just really turned me off from anything related to the NFL's offseason. This is the time of year when I want to follow the Mavs and Rangers and not be reminded that because of our ******lick of owner I'm doomed to watch another dismal year of pathetic Cowboys football come fall.

So considering this is all just a big advertisement for the already over-hyped draft, it just turns my stomach to think even about it. It's definitely a preconceived notion but I think I have a good justification for it.

Believe me. Battered Aggie Syndrome has NOTHING on Battered Cowboys Syndrome.

[This message has been edited by R0GUE (edited 4/12/2014 5:39p).]

Except the Cowboys had success in our lifetime.

I saw it today. I liked it, as did my wife. But we have both spent our entire lives around the game of football. But I still thought the story line etc was interesting enough that a person not football crazy could still enjoy it.

quote:

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Except the Cowboys had success in our lifetime.

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True but the Aggies future looks about 1,000,000 x brighter

Spoiler Alert:

So he trades three first round draft picks to get the guy he wanted at the first pick that he could have gotten ith the seventh, thereby paying him millions more than he had to. But he then gets those picks back but trades three future 2nd round picks to get a running back which had possible issues that could have been gotten later or a free agent coukd have been signed for less money. W he the worse general manager in the movie? No. Was he good? No.

He won't go with his mother to scatter his fater's ashes but wil leave with a piece of tail and go the same place his mother wanted hm to go and read a simple poem?

End spoiler alert.

Good premise of a movie but they should have gotten some NFL people to help them with the script besides Jerry Jones.

quote:

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It was pretty good but a little heavy on the cheese. I thought it played like a 2 hour NFL commercial.

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The Atlantic has an article about this. The NFL fully cooperated with the making of this film - so yeah- basically a big nfl promo.

I saw it yesterday. I enjoyed it it was a fun film to watch. And I've also always like Costner.

Saw it yesterday and enjoyed it. Academy award material? No, but a pleasant couple of hours and fun to think about how much of that type of stuff might actually happen at each year's draft.

People tend to think about the owner and the coaches a lot more than the manager. Movie did a good job of showing the interactions between the three and the potential power struggles that can develop.

Loved that the Seahawks had the top pick and were portrayed as the "villian" to some degree.

It did bring one thing to light that we as fans need to consider. We do not know crap about building a team and it should be left to professionals. Making a splash to sell tickets will not build a winner.

I still want to know how trading up in the draft to get a player and then trading multiple picks to get your own pick back helps the salary cap and the team. I will give it a pass because Jennifer Garner is smoking hot.

quote:

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It did bring one thing to light that we as fans need to consider. We do not know crap about building a team and it should be left to professionals.

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Again, this is just simply not true. There are definitely bad GMs all over pro sports. Just considering the NFL, a few names that come off the top of my head in the 00s were Matt Millen, Al Davis, and Jerry Jones (given that two were also the owners). If you're telling me that I couldn't do a better job than those three clowns, then I'd say you're delusional.

I will wait for this movie to come out on late-night cable or NFL network reruns, possibly RedBox if I am bored, and will reserve final judgement for that time, but the trailer made it look incredibly cheesy.

I enjoyed it. I don't think it was cheesy. But I'm a big nfl fan so I liked all the plugs.

Costner