Concussion

Concussion, the latest film from writer/director Peter Landesman is an intelligent and gripping tale about the brain trauma concussions cause in professional football players. It also speaks on the cover-up by the NFL regarding this information. It's a well crafted and timely movie when considering how football is the most popular sport in the country right now. For that reason and many more I am giving Concussion four and a half buckets of Killer Korn.












When you see Concussion it'll be hard to believe that it's only Peter Landesman's second feature film. It's rare that a director's second film is as good as Concussion is. Peter's first film was a movie entitled  Parkland which I missed unfortunately, but after seeing Concussion I am looking forward to seeing Parkland even more. Concussion tells the story of Dr. Bennett Omalu who is a forensic pathologist living in Pittsburgh during the time Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Fame football player Mike Webster committed suicide. As a die hard football fan I remembered hearing that news and thought something didn't make sense. Dr. Omalu was tasked to do the autopsy and he thought the same thing apparently. Mike Webster abandoned his family, became homeless, pawned his Super Bowl rings, and lost all of his money. During the autopsy the doctor couldn't understand why a seemingly healthy man with a brain that showed no signs of outward distress would live the way Mike Webster lived before his death. Dr. Omalu chose to run tests on Mike's brain and saw something that started the NFL down a path that organization never wanted to travel down.

Based on an article in GQ magazine by Jeanne Marie Laskas was the foundation on which this movie was built on and that article pulled no punches. It was far more damaging to the NFL than Concussion could ever be. I think in order to get any cooperation from the NFL though a more light handed approach was probably negotiated. There were a few names of other players that were in this movie of that I watched play like Andre Waters, Junior Seau, and Dave Duerson who suffered with CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy and committed suicide. And to know that it was all unnecessary was heartbreaking and Peter captured that as best he could. It wasn't overly maudlin or emotional nor was it glossed over. He walked that fine line with showing the downward spirals of these players while telling the compelling story of Dr Omalu and his life. There was a moment where Will Smith who plays Dr. Omalu brings a two by four to a wall in his newly constructed house tearing it down which to me represented the NFL tearing him and his work down when he honestly couldn't understand why he was being vilified when he was just trying to help the players and the league.

Will Smith was excellent as the talented and tormented Nigerian born Dr. Omalu and he was surrounded by an equally talented cast but that stand out in my opinion was David Morse. He played the tragic Mike Webster so well that there should be some kind of recognition for his portrayal. David is a chameleon and can bring any role to vivd life convincingly. To me he'll forever be Brutal from Shawshank. Concussion was easy on the eyes and a lot of that had to do with cinematographer Salvatore Totino. There was nothing special about the camera work but there was also nothing about it that took you out of the movie. It was good work. James Newton Howard did the score and it was a light touch to such a heavy topic. I think the music could have been more impactful but that's not in Howard's wheel house. Concussion may change the way you look at football but if you're a fan it probably won't. What it WILL do though is make you look ay the NFL differently and I think that's what they're frightened of more than anything. Concussion is definitely worth the price of admission so check it out and I'll see you at the theater.