Excellent Biopic, If Only Too Long and Unfocused

Rating: Null/10 (31 March 2016)

It is interesting to compare the two-hour PBS Frontline program "League of Denial" with the feature film concussion. While both films spend considerable time in developing the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the Nigerian-American physician who studied the effects of concussions on NFL players, the two experiences offer different insights into a vital medical issue.
The Frontline program was purely documentary, and the film "Concussion" was clearly biographical. While brilliantly acted by Will Smith, the personal story of Dr. Omalu began to overshadow the dramatic narrative of how his research slowly came to be recognized by the medical community and the media The Frontline documentary offered a more scathing appraisal of the NFL, which used its powerful influence and financial resources to cover up the findings of Dr. Omalu. In "Concussion," there could have been a greater balance of the biography and the extraordinary story of the repression of a reality that was known for years, if not decades, within the community of the National Football League.
Nonetheless, "Concussion" was well-written and well-acted, and the prominence of professional football in American culture was depicted visually in the repeated shots of the skyline of Pittsburgh, in which the landscape is dominated by Heinz Field.