Concussion
Heady stuff…
Before Will Smith busts blocks as Suicide Squad’s Deadshot, his gaze finds another target: a true-life issues movie about the crusading doctor who exposed the reasons behind high cases of suicide and early-onset dementia among American footie players.
If that sounds like a typical dual-threat formula – popcorn and prestige – for Smith, it’s nothing compared to the film’s adherence to awards-bait bromides. True, the sturdy cast and hot-topical material bode well. But as a torn-from-headlines exposé of suppressed truth, writer/director Peter Landesman’s low-powered drama lags behind Michael Mann’s ‘big tobacco’ takedown, The Insider, and bashes you on the head with Big Themes so often you’ll know what concussion means.
Smith is more smartly reserved as the Nigerian-born Dr Bennet Omalu, a sensitive, soulful and self-assured autopsy conductor/ corpse whisperer who smells rats over the early death of Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster. Uncovering proof of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) induced by heads clashing on pitch, Omalu publishes his findings and, naïvely, expects the NFL’s gratitude. He gets support from Steelers doc Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin, rising valiantly above accent issues) but only gets denial and legal tussles from the NFL, who, it’s hinted, even spook his wife Prema (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) into a miscarriage.
Despite Mbatha-Raw’s vigorous efforts, Prema is presented merely as Omalu’s sympathetic support, sapping their romance of sparks. That problem gets exacerbated as the focus on their under-charged love drains urgency from the theme. Fudging both the NFL’s dubious actions and subtexts about immigrant life in America, Landesman plumps instead for woolly homilies about being American set to weepie scoring.
The good doctor’s work is vital, true. But when a moment of much-needed passion sees Omalu demanding “the TRUTH !” from the NFL, the problem is clear: Landesman’s timid treatment is far tidier than anything resembling the truth.
THE VERDICT Will Smith shows measured charisma, but Peter Landesman’s awardsseason drama is too formula-baked to generate the required head of steam.
› Certificate 12A Director Peter Landesman Starring Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Albert Brooks Screenplay Peter Landesman Distributor Sony Running time 123 mins