QUICK REVIEW: Concussion

Good day to you ladies and gents time for another film review and today I’ll be talking about Concussion. After so much time of waiting I got to watch it last night after a long day at work, and I’m glad to be finally talking about this film because I’ve been looking forward to it for so long.

The story can be described as the following:

“In Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.”

What this film did well was to illustrate the dangers of playing American football and show the long-term psychological effects it could have on the players, through Dr. Bennet Omalu’s research and conversations with various other important figures, the informed and engaged you about the game of football and really helped create a compelling, disturbing and dramatic look at the brain damage that players went through. Another element that worked well in the film’s favour was the NFL’s attack on Omalu, it was intriguing to see such a massive company go out of their way to discredit and ruin the man’s career because his research could expose their negligence when it came to the safety of their players. There was also a heavy focus on Omalu’s personal life and while certain elements were interesting, I felt like the focus should have been more on the NFL’s side of things and his battle with them. If this film had struck a balance between Omalu’s life and the NFL’s dealings with him with a more conspiracy and emotional material then this story could have been so much more.

The cast was great across the board with a fabulous central performance from Will Smith as Dr.Bennet Omalu. I thought that the accent would be distracting, but after a while I really got into it and for a good 80% to 90% of the film I didn’t see Smith and saw Omalu, and I have to give it to Smith for committing to this role, giving us the great dramatic material that he’s known for, but also giving us I think the most subdued performance he’s done for a long time. Albert Brooks and Alec Baldwin both provide some really great performances as Dr. Cyril Wecht and Dr. Julian Bailes. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was also great as Prema Mutiso, and if was great to see Eddie Marsan as Dr. Steven DeKosky as well. And finally David Morse as Mike Webster, such a great performance from him, this character was pretty pivotal to the film and Morse played him with such dramatic flair and sensitivity.

In conclusion Concussion was a pretty solid film with an interesting story and some excellent performances from everyone involved especially Will Smith, unfortunately I feel like there was some missed opportunities to dive deeper into CTE issue with other players and how the NFL had to deal with the issue once it became more recognisable. The film was still solid and deserves to be seen for the story and performances.

Rating: 7.5/10

So have you seen Concussion and if so what did you think of it? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below and I’ll see you on the next review, laters! 😀