Draft Day

Draft Day is currently streaming in Australia on Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels, and in the US on YouTube TV, and it rewards the patience it asks of you. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Watch it for Kevin Costner — one of the stronger performances out there right now. Put it on tonight on Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels and see for yourself.

There is a reason Draft Day keeps coming up in conversation. Character-driven storytelling at its most effective — Draft Day earns every emotional beat it goes for. At the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he's willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams. Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. It hit screens in 2014. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Draft Day. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Kevin Costner's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

Draft Day was released in 2014, directed by Ivan Reitman. The full 110-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.