The Browns' strength and conditioning coach comes in hot and hits a couple of threes in one scene. — Bill Simmons
Chadwick Bozeman is named as a pick for being great in only about four scenes.
Sam Elliott dominates his one scene with charisma and the "Don't overthink this like your dad would have" line, which affects Sonny the rest of the way. — Mallory Rubin
Frank Langella is floated, but he is thought to have too many scenes; Sam Elliott is confirmed as coming in hot, with a wished-for Wisconsin sequel. — Mallory Rubin
Cable and streaming rewatch value; Chadwick Boseman as Vontae Mack; the versatile-linebacker profile; ESPN draft-telecast integration; Frank Langella as the owner; the Browns' draft-day chaos; Kevin Costner's throwback performance; NFL media cameos
The movie has aged best as a cable, on-demand, streaming or airplane movie that maybe never needed a theatrical release, like Million Dollar Arm, which the host helped produce. — Bill Simmons
In 2020 it would be a Netflix movie released two weeks before the NFL draft. — Bill Simmons
Split screen is offered as aged best because so much of the film is phone calls. — Bill Simmons
The split screens are countered as aged worst: the logic from the making-of is sound, but the effect is distracting and dated; the first host stays pro split screen. — Mallory Rubin
Chadwick Bozeman as Vante Mac comes across super likable and realistic despite limited screen time, though he is the smallest guy in several rooms. — Mallory Rubin
His undersized, versatile build is added as aged best for the era of flexible defenders, citing Derwin James and Isaiah Simmons falling in the recent draft. — Mallory Rubin
The ESPN telecast is used well, even Berman; filming at the actual 2013 draft at Radio City with real analysts and Goodell captures the event, plus good helicopter shots. — Mallory Rubin
Dennis Leary as a head coach is kind of liked and seen as realistic. — Mallory Rubin
Frank Langella as the owner is great, his second sports-owner role after Eddie, reunited with Kevin Dunn from Dave, and wearing sunglasses almost throughout. — Bill Simmons
The Browns doing crazy things on draft day has obviously aged best. — Bill Simmons
Sonny's "don't Twitter" advice is called aged best by one host; the co-host has it as aged worst because the NFL now wants players building online personas, though she backs never-tweet advice. — Mallory Rubin
Jacksonville having a terrible GM is offered as aged best; the co-host cites Jalen Ramsey and Josh Allen but notes the real 2014 Jags took Blake Bordell's. — Bill Simmons
Costner in a sports movie is the top aged-best item: he is undefeated, the Michael Jordan of sports movies, and the only actor the movie works with; Brad Pitt and Denzel are floated as the only alternatives. — Mallory Rubin
The NFL media cameos, including Chris Berman, Rich Eisen, John Gruden and Mike Mayock, are called aged best by both hosts. — Mallory Rubin
The first trade call, with Tom eating pancakes and negging Brian Drew, is the first nominee; it ends with "enjoy your pancakes, Tom," though real executives would not talk this confrontationally. — Bill Simmons
Chadwick Bozeman's first scene as Vante Mac is the second nominee. — Bill Simmons
Sonny telling the war room about the third first-round pick takes the air out of the room; asking Ali about the cap only after the trade is mocked, as is Allie's Super Bowl trivia, likened to Uma Thurman in Beautiful Girls. — Bill Simmons
The Coach Penn scenes and Frank Langella as owner Anthony Molina are praised, including the owner saying his quarterback prospect will be the son he never had. — Bill Simmons
Vante telling Sonny to watch the tape, and the war-room tape review with instantly cued footage, a sports-movie trick compared to Blue Chips, are liked. — Bill Simmons
The Browns taking Vante Mac is liked for his stunned joy and the war room freaking out over trading three first-rounders for a linebacker. — Bill Simmons
Sonny demanding his picks back and David Putney leads to the "pancake eating motherfucker" line, called the movie's only f-bomb. — Bill Simmons
The Ray Jennings draft call is raised but bothers the co-host because Ariad Foster's character never responds, and Vante never gets a call at all. — Mallory Rubin
Ralph's birthday-party reveal and the $100-bill playbook reveal, ending with Sonny shouting not to tell him who the other player was, are in the consideration set. — Mallory Rubin
The pick is the second trade with the Seahawks to get back the number ones: lines like "It's Jeff Carson, Tom," a clock-like score and the bookend to the first trade make it the closest thing to flawless. — Mallory Rubin
The other host agrees 100% and would always keep watching when that part comes on TV. — Bill Simmons
It comes down to Grodin or Langella: Langella really dials it up a couple of times, while nobody knows what Grodin is going for and it is called one of his worst performances despite a host loving Charles Grodin; he is really stressed out and meant to be the audience stand-in and the skepticism in the movie, and his 'get out of here as fast as you can' after the budget scene is one host's single favorite line reading, since that is how most people would react.
The bratwurst-with-mustard food order before balancing the budget is enjoyed, and Frank Langella (transcribed as 'Franklin Jell') is picked for 'he's not a president, he's an ordinary person, I can kill an ordinary person'; he's going for it with a great rhythm, bringing his own spin as a theater actor.
Kevin Kline is debated: apex is meant to be objective, when he had the most power or success, so A Fish Called Wanda is possible but he arguably has more power coming off this; another host puts it at Grand Canyon, five years after the Oscar and not so far removed from it; one host votes yes for Kline and tells the other two they vote no.
Grand Canyon tangent: a movie about somebody who made a wrong turn leaving a Laker game, which is a host's life every day driving home on the 101 and plays on every fear of a detour leaving the Staples Center.
Frank Langella, one host's actorly god, has been a lot of different guys: a hit Dracula in the 70s, the star of Mel Brooks' first movie The Twelve Chairs, really good on the Showtime show Kidding, and his falling for Whoopi Goldberg is in the running for weirdest celebrity couple of the last 30 years, with Eddie called a great movie.
A host goes yes for Langella as his signature performance because he dials it up, having asked Ivan Reitman whether to scale back and been told to go for it, bulging his eyes at the window like a maniac while Dave balances the budget; another agrees it's his most fun performance but doubts it's his apex, and the group settles that Dracula was probably his apex.
Nobody else in the movie qualifies: Sigourney had peaked, and Kevin Dunn is a maybe who is coming up next.
