Guess Who's Tackling The NFL!

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2016)

Will Smith is superb in CONCUSSION, the fact-based drama about a courageous immigrant doctor from Africa who "blows the whistle" on pro football's darkest secret, the link between on-field player concussions and suicidal behavior.
This is a movie that genuinely succeeds in making the viewer feel for the athletes, and it makes a powerful and passionate case for reform. The cast is brilliant, from top to bottom. Will Smith delivers a spectacular performance. His accent is convincing and consistent and he has no trouble with the scientific and medical jargon either. He makes Dr. Omalu both human and heroic, his sense of humor and awkwardness just as vital as his courage and moral integrity.
All of this makes CONCUSSION a compelling and successful film. As I was watching, however, I couldn't help but notice that while the plot line of NFL cover-ups and concussions was ripped from today's headlines, the presentation of the hero and the way others relate to him was almost shockingly old-fashioned.
Will Smith is basically playing the same character Sidney Poitier played in all those musty old Civil Rights films from almost half a century ago. He plays "the noble black hero striving for acceptance," the proud Negro who is always perfectly dressed in a suit and tie, who always speaks perfect (but charmingly accented) English, who admires and emulates white professionals with total devotion, and who never, ever loses his temper with racist whites, even when they insult and taunt him. This is the template Hollywood created for "acceptable" black males in film almost half a century ago . . . and they haven't modified it in nearly fifty years!
So what's wrong with that? Well, nothing, I suppose. Still, when you watch a movie like STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, (made by black people, for black people, and about black people) you get the impression that Hollywood's understanding of what black people feel and how they express themselves is, well, about fifty years out of date. STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON was a huge hit, a surprise hit not only in black communities but in mainstream America. And how does Hollywood react? By dusting off Sidney Poitier's creaky old suit of armor and ordering poor Will Smith to go into battle as the white knight. Or no, wait. I meant the black knight.
Or maybe I had it right the first time!