Will Smith arrives with his latest hard-hitting drama in the story of American Football medical scandal, Concussion, which sees him taking on the role of Nigerian forensic pathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu. Having already been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for both Ali and The Pursuit Of Happiness, we’d expected him to get a similar nod for his latest effort, but he’s been nudged out by Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl).
The film is an adaptation of the real life 2009 GQ exposé Game Brain by Jeanne Marie Laskas, which reported on the suppression of Dr. Omalu’s research on chronic brain damage suffered by professional football players by the NFL. It’s not exactly topical for a UK audience, but maybe the Will Smith Factor and the dramatic sports biography intent of the film will be enough to help it land well following mid-level reviews and lower than average box office take in the US.
Release date
Concussion (2015) arrived in the US on the 25th December 2015 on general release, but it didn’t get its UK release date until Friday the 12th February 2016. It goes up against Alvan And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip, A Bigger Splash, Jem And The Holograms and Zoolander 2 for box office glory in the UK, so it should have the more serious minded cinema viewer all to itself.
Story
The plot focuses on Dr. Bennet Omalu’s fight to get his research findings officially accepted by the National Football League following their initial rebukes. He postulates his hypothesis in a research paper following the unexpected death of a former NFL star, and his conclusion that it was brought on as a result of severe brain damage caused by the long term effects of impacts on the brain of American Football players.
However, the NFL dismisses the findings as an isolated case, but when more deaths come to light Omalu steps up his fight to be taken seriously. This results in a significant push back from the NFL, which puts a lot of pressure on everyone supporting the research findings, but with reputations on the line it’s a wrangle that refused to go away despite facing up against one of the most powerful organisations in the US.
Cast
Joining Will Smith (Suicide Squad) is Alec Baldwin (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) as his fellow pathologist Dr. Julian Balies, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Suicide Squad) as Dave Duerson, former NFL Players Association executive, who was tragically effected by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the condition Dr. Omalu discovers. The cast also includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Jupiter Ascending), Luke Wilson (The Ridiculous 6), Stephen Moyer, Arliss Howard, Paul Reiser (Life After Beth) and Albert Brooks (Finding Dory).
Production
Concussion has been written and directed by Peter Landesman (Parkland) and produced by Ridley Scott, Giannina Scott, David Wolthoff, Larry Shuman and Elizabeth Cantillon. Executive producers are Michael Schaefer, David Crockett, Ben Waisbren, Bruce Berman and Greg Basser.
First impressions
Will Smith’s latest drama certainly looks like it delivers on its serious intent and interest as a biographical drama, but we’re not convinced there’s necessarily enough impact in it to draw a good sized crowd at the big screen. The acting looks decent enough in the trailer below, but it does feel a little stretched in the “tell the truth” line from Will Smith.
That aside, Concussion (2015) looks like a focused and driven piece of cinema, which can only be commended, combining a solid delivery and a classic David vs. Goliath story of true life heroism and determination. It raises racial undercurrents relating to Dr. Omalu’s Nigerian origins in terms of the dismissal of his findings, as well as the wider story of going up against the might of a national organisation.
