MOVIE: Concussion

Concussion: not just a football story.  This true story focuses on Nigerian trained pathologist, Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith.  In 2002, as a pathologist with the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office, Dr. Omalu is performing an autopsy on the great former Pittsburgh Steelers center, Mike Webster (David Morse).  When the standard autopsy fails to reveal the cause of death of an otherwise healthy 50 year old individual, Dr. Omalu, at his own expense, orders additional tests.   He eventually discovers a disorder of the brain with characteristics similar to what those in the boxing world referred to as “punch drunk”.   This new disorder, caused by repeated blows to the head, is given the name “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” or “CTE”.  Dr. Omalu continues to perform autopsies on additional Steelers players.  When he publishes his findings on CTE, he is unprepared for the savage attacks unleashed upon him by the NFL.  From what I have independently read, this film is kind to the NFL.  The portrayal of Dr. Julian Bailes (Alex Baldwin), the Steelers’ former team doctor, shows that some people truly cared about the welfare of the players.  Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) is barely on screen.  During the course of the story, a personal relationship develops between Dr. Omalu and Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an immigrant from Kenya.  Their relationship and eventual marriage is nicely interwoven into the story.  Will Smith does an excellent job and his Nigerian accent is authentic.   I enjoyed the scene where he tells us why woodpeckers and rams can absorb head hits while humans cannot.  This 122-minute film has some football scenes, but director and writer Peter Landesman’s concentration is on Bennet Omalu and the science of CTE.  You don’t have to have a fondness for football to enjoy this movie, however, if you are a football fan, you owe it to yourself to see this film.  For the past few years I’ve been saying that players have gotten too big for the game.  This film supports my remark and does so while telling a story about an individual seeking knowledge.