A Well-Acted, But A Little Generic Sports Drama

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2016)

In the last few years, awareness about the problems retired football players are facing has risen. Just a few years ago a large group of retired football players sued the NFL because they all had concussion-related issues, Concussion is about the beginning of that. Concussion is well acted, tells a well-timed story, albeit it being a little generic. The best thing about this movie is Will Smith, especially his performance as Dr. Bennet Omalu.
Will Smith anchors the film as Forensic Pathologist Bennet Omalu, and he flourishes in the role, even handling Omalu's accent pretty well. The film features a talented ensemble including Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, and Gugu Mbatha Raw. The entire ensemble is great, even the actors only appearing for short periods, despite some weak characters. Perhaps the only caveat is that Smith and Raw's romance feels more awkward than romantic at times, but it seems that was intentional.
The film also does very well portraying a timely story, that will undoubtedly be relevant for years to come. The film brilliantly shows the story of one man against one of the biggest corporations in America and the cover-up of a major issue. That is not an overly original storytelling method, but the film definitely portrays the NFL as an "evil" organization. Much like Spotlight earlier this year, the film shows the scary true story of how when an organization gets too much power it can cover up terrible truths.
The film does have some problems, namely, that is somewhat generic and slow. Concussion follows the sports drama formula and struggles pushing the story along. While the film is only 2 hours, it feels more like 2 and a half hours. Because the film tells a story that is still unfolding, it's ending is a little anti-climactic. On top of that, the dialogue in the film isn't very good, and the film has next to no humor.
Concussion is a very entertaining sports drama featuring a great performance from Will Smith. The film's story is interesting, because of it's modern appeal, as well as the fact that it pulls no punches, and ambitiously accuses one of the most powerful corporations in America. However, the film struggles it feels long, is a little generic, and limps to the end. In the end, sports fans will more than likely enjoy the film, but beware the film has a lot of football criticisms littered through it.