It's Not a Sure-Fire Hall of Fame Pick But It's Not a Bust, Either: Our Review of "Draft Day" (2014)

Directed By: Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) 

Starring: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Chadwick Boseman, Denis Leary

Rating: PG-13 on appeal for brief strong language and sexual references

Run Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Synopsis: Sonny Weaver Jr. (Costner) is facing a hectic day. It's the first day of the NFL Draft, his girlfriend and co-worker shares the news that she's pregnant, the owner of his team wants him to make a big splash, a stud prospect keeps badgering him and his new head coach keeps butting heads with him. When Sonny does end up making a big splash hours before the draft it has ramifications for how the rest of the day will play out.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! A couple of days ago (ok, like 4 days ago) we went and saw Draft Day directed by Ivan Reitman, the comedy director of such classics like Ghost Busters and Meatballs, and starring Kevin Costner (Man of Steel), Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club) and Denis Leary (The Amazing Spider-Man), just to name a few. 

In Draft Day Costner stars as Sonny Weaver, Jr., the beleaguered General Manager of the Cleveland Browns and we see all the trials and tribulations Sonny has to face during the biggest day of the year for him. 

Right from the start we find out that Costner’s Sonny Weaver, Jr. has lost his father, who just happened to be the former head coach of the Browns that Sonny recently fired, and that his girlfriend and co-worker, Ali (Garner), is pregnant. And all of this is spelled out in the first 3 minutes of the movie. 

To kick off this review I'll admit that while Draft Day had been getting a surprising amount of positive buzz I thought the marketing was terrible for it, so I didn't really intend to ever see this in theatres.

Sarah: Which shocked me, actually.

A: Well the trailers and the commercials for this movie didn’t make me want to see this movie. What about you?

Dare We Say This Jackie Robinson Biopic is a.....Home Run?: Our Review of "42" (2013)

Directed By: Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale) 

Starring: Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman, Nicole Beharie, Wendell Smith

Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements including language

Run Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Jackie Robinson (Boseman), the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, from the decision of Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Ford) to make the controversial move, through Jackie's ascent through the minors and up to the conclusion of his rookie season in 1947.

REVIEW 

Andrew: Hello readers! As you may or may not have known, Sarah and I were on vacation all of last week, as we went back to our home state of Michigan to visit our family and friends in our respective hometowns. So that’s why we were a little quiet last week on our site, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t watching movies!

Indeed, the Sunday before last we went to the local movie theatre in my hometown of Petoskey, Michigan to see the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 along with my mom and my uncle.

Starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson; Harrison as Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers who made the historic decision to sign an African-American baseball player to his team; and a whole host of other recognizable faces like Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) and Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball).

Sarah: Just a host of familiar faces.

A: So obviously the set-up to this movie is that it’s based on the true story of Jackie Robinson being the first black man to play in Major League Baseball. This is one we definitely wanted to see. It’s a baseball movie, so that appealed to me, it’s a historical movie…why is it that you wanted to see it?