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Concussion - Will The NFL Take a Big Hit to the Pocket?
Concussion hit our area theaters recently and seemed like a change from the usual holiday fare, so we tried it. The story revolves around an actual Nigerian doctor, Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith. Omalu has multiple medical degrees and was working as a forensic pathologist, doing post-mortem exams in the Pittsburgh area in 2002. We (the audience, that is), see the last days of the life of former Steelers center Mike Webster, living in his pickup truck, seriously troubled and apparently suffering from dementia. When Webster is found dead of an apparent heart attack, Omalu is the pathologist who does the autopsy on him. Having some knowledge of Webster’s story, Omalu examines Webster’s brain but is surprised that he doesn’t see anything abnormal. It isn’t until Omalu becomes intrigued by the case that he takes on (at his own expense), a costly microscopic examination of Webster’s brain and finds that it’s riddled with abnormal proteins. Apparently, Webster isn’t alone and similar examinations of brains of other players who subsequently die from suicide, homelessness, etc yield similar abnormalities. Omalu begins an initially quiet campaign among co-workers, colleagues and supervisors to find out just how football and this abnormality are linked. This problem is almost certain to be difficult to discuss, since the damage is subtle, can only be confirmed post-mortem and because football, in Pittsburgh and elsewhere, is a near-religion. As one character puts it, the NFL took Sunday away from God; it’s the only sport with it’s own day of the week.
Omalu gets the dubious privilege of naming the disorder, calling it Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It’s very similar to the more familiar Dementia Pugilistica, also known among boxers as being Punch Drunk. It’s been subsequently associated with blast injuries, ice hockey, professional wrestling and accidents in cheerleading. None of those activities, however, have the level of cultural “importance” attached to football and the NFL. Omalu’s findings, if made public, threaten to damage the sport and probably, more importantly, threaten the NFL with liability problems that might slow the profit machine, so the NFL doesn’t want to hear or see anything about this. For Omalu, however, this is about getting out the truth. He has nothing to gain and a lot to lose, but he’s a fundamentally decent and moral guy who thinks that this story is more important than his fate. The rest of the story is about how the NFL and Omalu are both forced to come to grips with this problem.
The movie was written and directed by Peter Landesman, who has not done any other films I have seen. In addition to Smith, Concussion features Alec Baldwin as a medical colleague and a number of lesser known “character actors”, who are not marquis names. It’s a fairly minimal production, without any action scenes or big FX, and includes some of what may be actual or virtual archival footage of football action, but not much in the way of big scenes. It’s NOT a football epic, but a medical story. If you’re looking for sports glory, this is not your movie; nobody in the story cares about completions, interceptions, fumbles or pass blocks. It’s really a mostly medical story about how many hits a person’s head can take from childhood through the completion of an NFL career, with the added element of Omalu taking on the NFL, wanting them to acknowledge the problem.
For Will Smith, he’s not playing one of his usual flamboyant characters. Omalu is a polite, sincere, soft-spoken character who did not start out with the intention of “ruining” football. Smith’s portrayal and his fake accent mostly work. According to the credits, the actual Omalu was a consultant to the movie, so I guess it’s mainly correct. In general, it’s a decent film, a good example of the “ripped from the headlines” sort of expose. Everything about the movie seems to exude sincerity, including the plot, dialog and the actor’s performances. It’s also somewhat pedestrian, occasionally slow-moving and full of medical dialog. I had the impression that some of the audience, expecting an over-the-top Will Smith extravaganza or a sports movie, were somewhat disappointed that the character was not any of that. I liked the movie and Smith’s performance, but didn’t think it was much more than a decent historical flick. I already knew most of the story from media reports when it was actually happening, so the movie mainly served to flesh out Omalu as a character. It’s enjoyable enough and well crafted, but it won’t be the centerpoint for the best of 2015.
Concussion hit our area theaters recently and seemed like a change from the usual holiday fare, so we tried it. The story revolves around an actual Nigerian doctor, Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith. Omalu has multiple medical degrees and was working as a forensic pathologist, doing post-mortem exams in the Pittsburgh area in 2002. We (the audience, that is), see the last days of the life of former Steelers center Mike Webster, living in his pickup truck, seriously troubled and apparently suffering from dementia. When Webster is found dead of an apparent heart attack, Omalu is the pathologist who does the autopsy on him. Having some knowledge of Webster’s story, Omalu examines Webster’s brain but is surprised that he doesn’t see anything abnormal. It isn’t until Omalu becomes intrigued by the case that he takes on (at his own expense), a costly microscopic examination of Webster’s brain and finds that it’s riddled with abnormal proteins. Apparently, Webster isn’t alone and similar examinations of brains of other players who subsequently die from suicide, homelessness, etc yield similar abnormalities. Omalu begins an initially quiet campaign among co-workers, colleagues and supervisors to find out just how football and this abnormality are linked. This problem is almost certain to be difficult to discuss, since the damage is subtle, can only be confirmed post-mortem and because football, in Pittsburgh and elsewhere, is a near-religion. As one character puts it, the NFL took Sunday away from God; it’s the only sport with it’s own day of the week.
Omalu gets the dubious privilege of naming the disorder, calling it Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It’s very similar to the more familiar Dementia Pugilistica, also known among boxers as being Punch Drunk. It’s been subsequently associated with blast injuries, ice hockey, professional wrestling and accidents in cheerleading. None of those activities, however, have the level of cultural “importance” attached to football and the NFL. Omalu’s findings, if made public, threaten to damage the sport and probably, more importantly, threaten the NFL with liability problems that might slow the profit machine, so the NFL doesn’t want to hear or see anything about this. For Omalu, however, this is about getting out the truth. He has nothing to gain and a lot to lose, but he’s a fundamentally decent and moral guy who thinks that this story is more important than his fate. The rest of the story is about how the NFL and Omalu are both forced to come to grips with this problem.
The movie was written and directed by Peter Landesman, who has not done any other films I have seen. In addition to Smith, Concussion features Alec Baldwin as a medical colleague and a number of lesser known “character actors”, who are not marquis names. It’s a fairly minimal production, without any action scenes or big FX, and includes some of what may be actual or virtual archival footage of football action, but not much in the way of big scenes. It’s NOT a football epic, but a medical story. If you’re looking for sports glory, this is not your movie; nobody in the story cares about completions, interceptions, fumbles or pass blocks. It’s really a mostly medical story about how many hits a person’s head can take from childhood through the completion of an NFL career, with the added element of Omalu taking on the NFL, wanting them to acknowledge the problem.
For Will Smith, he’s not playing one of his usual flamboyant characters. Omalu is a polite, sincere, soft-spoken character who did not start out with the intention of “ruining” football. Smith’s portrayal and his fake accent mostly work. According to the credits, the actual Omalu was a consultant to the movie, so I guess it’s mainly correct. In general, it’s a decent film, a good example of the “ripped from the headlines” sort of expose. Everything about the movie seems to exude sincerity, including the plot, dialog and the actor’s performances. It’s also somewhat pedestrian, occasionally slow-moving and full of medical dialog. I had the impression that some of the audience, expecting an over-the-top Will Smith extravaganza or a sports movie, were somewhat disappointed that the character was not any of that. I liked the movie and Smith’s performance, but didn’t think it was much more than a decent historical flick. I already knew most of the story from media reports when it was actually happening, so the movie mainly served to flesh out Omalu as a character. It’s enjoyable enough and well crafted, but it won’t be the centerpoint for the best of 2015.