Concussion review: Delivers a welcome glimpse of Will Smith’s acting prowess. Worth a watch
Following a rather disappointing turn in the dire M. Night Shyamalan sci-fi movie After Earth, and the decent enough Focus, Will Smith goes ‘serious’ for his latest role as Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian pathologist now living in Pittsburgh, who uncovers a rather worrying truth involving former American football players who develop brain damage years after their careers have ended.
Omalu uncovers the truth after performing a relatively straight-forward autopsy on former NFL player Mike Webster (David Morse). He finds a rather worrying neurological deterioration that is similar to Alzheimer’s disease, only it seems to be hitting a number of people from the same sports background, and at an alarmingly worrying early age. After confirming his findings, Omalu names the disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy and publishes his findings in a medical journal.More athletes are then given the same diagnosis, and the Omalu embarks on a personal mission to raise public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.
The film, released on domestic soil (North America) on Christmas Day of last year, comes to the screen courtesy of Peter Landesman, an accomplished writer/ director who has previously delivered the movie Parkland, the true story focusing on the events at the Parkland hospital in Dallas on the day that JFK was killed back in 1963. In only his second film as director, Landesman continues with a medical theme with this decent modern story of a revelation within the NFL that reveal that concussions suffered on the football field, may be linked with the newly discovered encephalopathy, a mental illness that sees its sufferers go through personality changes, and in somes cases, which are seen here, lead patients to suicide.
Landesman’s film is simple in its approach, but effective in its execution with the viewer, including this one, engaged throughout. In a year when exposure pieces are the all the rage with many Davids taking on many Goliaths (see the superior Spotlight), Concussion unfortunately suffers from a bloated running time, and a repetitive nature.
Smith is perfectly fine in his leading role, a character with more depth than his last five roles put together, and he holds our attention throughout. Should Oscar have come his way? Potentially so, as his Dr. Bennet Omalu is a more reserved, though very powerful performance with the actor cleverly juggling a complex role with a tough accent and he nails both. With superb support from the talented Guru Mbatha-Raw and the always watchable Alec Baldwin, the film is one that won’t get us talking in the same manner that say Spotlight would, but it does make you think why something wasn’t discovered until 2002, and why the correct authorities didn’t take action sooner.
It’s clearly a drama that commands your attention, and one that features one of the world’s biggest movie stars in a role that we don’t see him in often enough. A film with an interesting story and a welcome glimpse of Smith’s acting prowess that deserves your attention, if nothing else.
Concussion review by Paul Heath, February 2016.
Concussion is released in UK cinemas on Friday 12th February, 2016.
