Photo Credit: Warner Bros
Before I start my review on the movie ‘Concussion’, I will let everyone know that this post contains no spoilers. The movie has a stellar cast headlined by Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks as well as Luke Wilson, David Morse, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The movie is based around the discovery of the disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy or “CTE” that has affected many former NFL players.
Will Smith was cast as Dr. Bennett Omaulu, a Nigerian doctor who eventually discovers the disease. For those who have seen the trailer, you know that Smith has an accent during the film which can either be hit or miss. Honestly, Smith totally commits to the part and the accent sounds completely natural. Smith finds a way to play the doctor with a mixture of heart and authority, showing his determination to be taken seriously while also showing his personal life.
While Smith is clearly the lead and a great one at that, supporting actors like Alec Baldwin and Albert Brooks play their roles to perfection. As a former employee of the NFL, Baldwin plays the field between wanting to expose the NFL and wanting to keep the game sacred. Albert Brooks brings humor and becomes the small amount of comedy relief that the movie needs. The most disappointing role has to be Luke Wilson as Roger Goodell which is sad because of how disappointing he is in reality. For the lack of Goodell in the movie, Wilson brings nothing to the role besides being a mouthpiece much like Goodell.
The subject matter ventures out of the normal sports genre and brings attention to a very important issue. Even though CTE is supposed to be the center of everything, it is sometimes overshadowed by Dr. Omaulu’s life. A downfall of the movie is that it only gives up a brief glimpse of what he had to go through to be heard. While the movie has its dramatic moments as it is about the NFL’s pushback to the findings and also his personal struggles.
However, the biggest flaw in the movie is that it doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know. For most avid football fans, CTE has become something that they pretend not to notice and ignore for the enjoyment of the game. Even though the movie was supposed to be “the movie the NFL doesn’t want you to see”, it really fails on delivering that and doesn’t really make the NFL seem much worse. If the movie had focused more on the NFL and more on their attempt to cover up the issue, it would have been much better. If the movie was and what it could have been with the NFL additions, it would have made a larger impact with the public.
Overall, the movie was interesting enough and told a compelling story about something fans try to ignore. It really brings to light an issue that has long deserved a lot of attention and could possibly make a slight impact. Even if the movie doesn’t exactly tackle the issues it wanted to, it is still well worth the watch. Depending on your feelings on the NFL, reactions can vary but I give Concussion a B+.
