In “Concussion” Mike Webster, Dave Duerson and Andre Waters – NFL players who suffered traumatic brain injuries – are each named in a deadly roll call. As they say at the start of each episode of “Fargo,” out of respect for the dead their names have not been changed.
When we meet them they are already concussed and desperately dealing with the after-effects of a life spent hitting people, including violent outbursts, drug use and dementia like symptoms leading to suicide.
It is not a pretty picture. However, little of how they got that way is shown.
Instead, we understand their lives through their deaths as diagnosed by the real life Nigerian born pathologist Bennett Omalu, portrayed by Will Smith, who discovered the condition and connected it to on-field collisions.
Today the NFL at least pays lip service to the problem. But in 2005 the denial of and pushback against Omalu’s diagnosis by now NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, played by Luke Wilson, and from the sports rabid fan base was swift and severe. This is the story “Concussion” tells. It is essentially a biopic.
Smith gives a pensive and persuasive performance as a man who knows literally nothing about football nor that Webster was a fan favorite until the former Pittsburgh Steelers shows up in Omalu’s morgue.
(Steelers, NFL imagery and actual game footage is portrayed in the film. Director Peter Landsman said that permission to do so was not sought and that any factual assertions made in the film were vetted to ensure they were legally defensible. “Concussion” has been heavily advertised during NFL broadcasts.)
But sometimes you admire the singer more than the song. Smith adopts Omalu’s clipped African patois and his work here has earned him a Golden Globe nomination. More honors could be on the horizon.
But the film fails to connect the dots dramatically in the same way the courageous Omalu did medically.
Anyone expecting a game-of-the-week style from “Parkland” and “Kill the Messenger” director Landsman will be disappointed in this film’s more modest execution and ambitions. But anyone hoping to learn about the condition, as Omalu seeks to have his results published and acknowledged, will be rewarded.
**1/2 Two and one half
With Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Morse, Arliss Howard, Mike O’Malley, Eddie Marsan, Hill Harper, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Richard T. Jones, Luke Wilson.
Produced by Elizabeth Cantillon, Ridley Scott, Larry Shuman, David Woldhoff.
Written by Peter Landsman, Jeanne Marie Laskas. Directed by Peter Landsman.
Rated PG-13, disturbing images, language. Approximate running time: 123 minutes.
Tags: Andre Waters, Concussion, Dave Duerson, Mike Webster, NFL, Omalu, Peter Landsman, Will Smith Posted by