Terrific film - Will Smith excels

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2016)

This is one of the best football-related films I've seen. You see the stark, tragic reality of how any corporation abuses workers and doesn't really care if they live or die, as long as the money rolls in. But we love football, so it's OK, right? I don't think you'll feel the same after watching this film.
This film is based on the true story of Dr Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), a Nigerian doctor with multiple degrees, who discovered Chronic Tragic Encephalopathy (CTE) in football players. Omalu was a pathologist who found life in the dead patients he autopsied. Taking place in Pittsburgh, Omalu notices that football players are doing strange things that don't match the condition of their brains to their age. His journey is just beginning when he discovers massive damage to ex-players' brains.
Alec Baldwin also stars as Dr Bailes, ex-team Doctor who believes in the science that shows CTE is real. Baldwin strikes the right amount of righteous indignation at the NFL executives as they reign in the stagecoaches to protect their sport from attack.
The Director Landesman weaves a nice story that slowly pulls you in to believing, as player after player succumb to tragedy. The scenes weave through multiple lives, but you are never lost - excellent connections were built to keep you on track.
Besides Smith and Baldwin, there were great performances from Albert Brooks as Dr Wecht, Smith's protégé/mentor, and newcomer Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Prema, a recent immigrant from Kenya seeking a helping hand in a new land.
Tension gets ratcheted up slowly but surely, leaving you wondering and hoping that sanity prevails. The ending won't leave you cheering, but rather, wondering, wondering about why it always seems to take death to get businesses to change.
Concussion is a must-see movie. Enjoy.