Will Smith is good, but struggled to pull off Omalu.

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2015)

As a Pittsburgh native (parts of the film were even shot in and around my office building), I was looking forward to this film. It was enjoyable, and I learned a thing or two. I think that it framed Dr. Omalu and how he is as a person (including what drives him) very well. I'm also a first generation American, so I could really relate to the conflict between doing the right thing, and potentially sabotaging your long term goals and dreams for the future.
While I generally like Will Smith, and I think he did his best in portraying Dr. Omalu, I just do not think he was the best choice. Not when there are plenty of African actors, such as Djimon Hounsou, Edi Gathegi, or even Desmond Elliot (who is Nigerian, and even looks a lot like Dr. Omalu) that would have nailed this part. I admit, the writing was good. The words and phrasing had me thinking, "Oh yeah, that's definitely how an African would talk." And like I said, I think Will Smith pulled it off. But you could tell he was trying; whereas for another actor, the cultural mannerisms could have some across more natural. {Sigh} My other (small) gripe was the way that Pittsburgh was portrayed. Don't get me wrong...it wasn't horrible. But there were some moments that made me cringe. 'Danny' from the coroner's lab filled the bill as a 'typical yinzer' who is boorish and blinded by their love for the Steelers. Ms. Omalu refers to Pittsburgh as "...this rusty city" (???). In spite of Pittsburgh having one of the most stable economies in the nation, the film still managed to work in references to the massive job losses in the 70s and school closings in the 80s (due to population decline). Any of these things on their own...no big deal. But through the course of the movie, Pittsburgh somehow gets bundled together with the NFL as the proverbial bad guy.
And finally since the film was based on a true story...I wasn't expecting a happy ending or anything like that. But the blurbs at the movie's conclusion focused on the characters...not the changes made to the NFL's playing policies in regards to tackled that are not allowed anymore; which I believe were a result of Dr. Omalu's findings.
Overall this was a good movie. I think it would have benefited from better casting and a bit more insight to the NFL's side of things. But overall...nice job.