Earlier this year, an excellent documentary called "Merchants of Doubt" exposed the tobacco industry’s denial, and later cover-up, of evidence linking smoking to many diseases, particularly lung cancer. Now, director Peter Landesman has given us a similar picture, albeit not a documentary, about the National Football League’s denial and cover-up of evidence linking football to traumatic brain injury. "Concussion" has more to do with science and medicine than it does football, so don’t expect a sports film.
"Concussion" stars Will Smith, at the top of his acting game, as Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist working in Pittsburgh, who first discovers the link in 2002 when a series of former Pittsburgh Steelers die young for no apparent reason. In most cases, the athletes suffered from severe early onset dementia, but their blood work all tests fine. Dr. Omalu, a Nigerian native who knows next to nothing about American football, finds the answer in their damaged brain tissue. Unfortunately, his subsequent campaign to publicize his discovery is thwarted at every turn by the NFL — which first brushes the issue under the rug before making the terrible mistake of attempting to discredit Dr. Omalu.
It is ironic that this revelation was identified by a man so unversed in football that he was unable to name a single other NFL team besides the Steelers. Had an American doctor detected the correlation between football and concussions, would he have led a crusade to warn the American public? Perhaps. But perhaps not, particularly if he were a sports fan. Fortunately for Dr. Omalu, an early supporter of his work is former Steelers team doctor Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin). It doesn’t take Bailes long to join Dr. Omalu in his quest to bring attention to this connection of football to brain injuries. It’s difficult for Bailes to witness the demoralizing deaths of his friends from the team, and his character serves as a guide for Dr. Omalu — sort of a Jiminy Cricket, advising the doctor what to expect next.
It is Bailes who predicts the muted reaction of the NFL powers and who prepares Omalu for the inevitable outcry (and even death threats) from the sports-loving public. "Concussion" is not always an easy film to watch, but it never crosses the line into unbelievable territory the way last year’s "Gone Girl" did. As most of "Concussion" is true, I didn’t expect such a plot development, but when a car appears to follow Dr. Omalu’s wife home (deranged football fanatics, maybe?), I began to wonder.
Smith is outstanding as Omalu — so much so that if I couldn't see his face, I would have assumed an actual Nigerian were playing the role. This may be the best job of acting he’s ever done. Baldwin is solid as the other half of this odd but effective partnership. Albert Brooks is also strong as Dr. Cyril Wecht, a Pittsburgh forensic pathologist and Dr. Omalu’s immediate superior. I liked Gugu Mbatha-Raw, too, as Omalu’s wife. But I have a problem with Landesman’s screenplay, which gives too much time to the Omalus' relationship — taking us through their first meeting, their first date, marriage and family. I realize much of this is to indicate the passage of time between other scenes, but I wish "Concussion" had concentrated more on the science versus football theme rather than the doctor’s personal life.
As is common in real-life films, the closing titles advise us what has happened in the intervening years. Here, we learn the NFL eventually admitted Dr. Omalu’s discovery was indeed correct, and steps were taken to diminish the effects of on-field head collisions. I wish "Concussion" had taken us through this period, rather than stopping abruptly for no visible reason other than having reached a two-hour running time
In 2000, Steven Soderbergh released an outstanding film called "Traffic," which examined the American drug culture through several lenses — two Mexican police officers attempting to expose drug trafficking to the U.S., an Ohio judge who takes on a drug kingpin, the judge’s drug-abusing teenage daughter and a DEA investigation into a large drug cartel. Taken together, these stories paint a picture of the personal damage, high stakes and enormous profits of the illegal drug trade. Soderbergh’s accomplishment was, in large part, due to the intertwined storylines a la any Robert Altman film.
But this year, I have been somewhat disappointed with two releases purporting to examine worthy issues by focusing on just one storyline. "Suffragette" allowed us to see the British women’s rights movement solely through the eyes of a London working woman. Now "Concussion" endeavors to show us the difficult battle for the acceptance of the link between brain injury and football — disguised as a pseudo-biography of the doctor who discovered the link. I would have preferred more perspective and less personal story. I can’t say "Concussion" is a bad film; it has a lot going for it. But it could have been so much more interesting. And eye-opening.
Andy Ray's reviews also appear on http://www.artschannelindy.com/category/movie-reviews/