Synopsis: An NFL team manager has to decide who he is going to pick in the NFL Draft in order for his team to make a difference next season. Sonny Weaver Jnr has to balance the books, please the fans and the coach as well as his own personal goals. This will be one hell of a day.
Main Cast: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Frank Langella, Chadwick Boseman, Josh Pence, Terry Crews, Tom Welling
The Hype: This was released just before the actual NFL Draft. Probably in an attempt to gain some more box office monies from bored Football fans during the summer months. It worked pretty well too, taking 3 times its meagre budget.
What I Thought: I love this kind of movie. It’s a similar type of film to Moneyball or Trouble With The Curve in its ideas and eventually its payoff, and although not a film worthy of Oscar recognition, it serves its purpose and fulfills the watcher satisfactorily. I enjoyed it and was pleased that it took you in a direction that you wanted it to go. Predictable, but sometimes that’s ok as you get what you pay for. I recommend Draft Day to sports fans, but anyone who like Moneyball will probably get a kick out of this one. Kevin Costner makes another welcome return to the screen and seems to be on a bit of a roll at the moment with a few films out this year and this performance does him no harm whatsoever.
Well, let’s get on with reviewing the nominations for best film. There have been quite a few this year and I think one of the big contenders for the Best Picture Oscar is the Steven Spielberg epic, Lincoln.
Synopsis: Following Abraham Lincoln’s administration during the American Civil War, so this would be his second term as President, the movie gives us a very detailed account of the political goings on both in the House of Representatives and also behind the scenes. It also focuses mainly on the issue of slavery which became the pivotal reason for the war, although it never started out that way. Slavery would be the key to unlocking the end of the war and debate over the subject was heated. It would eventually cost Lincoln his life.
Main Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Lee Pace, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Harris, James Spader, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook.
The Hype: Since its announcement, this film has been tipped for Oscar success, especially with the Daniel Day-Lewis/Spielberg partnership. Lewis has a knack for picking big movies that are instantly hyped up for Best Picture status and if opening box office numbers are anything to go by then the $132M it has taken in the US alone is a good indicator. It has also been included in numerous awards nominations so far including the Golden Globes.
What I Thought: I liked this movie, although I did expect a little more on the war/action side of things. It is very well written by Tony Kushner and the performances are brilliant. Daniel Day-Lewis gives a stunning showing as Lincoln, but for me the highlight was Tommy Lee Jones as the as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee who threw everything behind Lincoln’s 13th amendment to the constitution and he really gave a top draw portrayal of the character. The story is engaging, important and one of history’s biggest moments. On the downside, I did hope for more from the frontline of the Civil War itself and found some of the monologues drawn out and tiresome after a while. There is however a great exchange between Lincoln and his wife Molly who comes across as a real hard woman and Sally Field gives a possible Supporting Actress performance.
Conclusions: Perhaps a tad too long and wordy, but very well written and performed and that alone gives it a huge shot at the title this year, although personally I think there are better options. I think Americans will like this movie much more than anyone else because of the subject matter, us Brits are indifferent to American politics it seems. That said, it still gets a good mark from me and it based on how many it has been nominated for, it will certainly pick up an Oscar or two on the night.