"Concussion" features great acting and an interesting and timely story, but is otherwise unspectacular.

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2015)

It's difficult to hear something bad about the ones you love. You don't want to believe it. You don't even want to think about it. But when you do, you worry about how what you've learned will affect the relationship. Well, what if the relationship in question is not with a person, but with an activity? That's the case with many of us football fans when we think about the sad reality of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). The knowledge that many years of the vicious blows that football players endure (and we cheer) has had long-term health effects on many players, and even ended some of their lives, is a sober realization indeed. It's an uncomfortable truth that fans, players, trainers and coaches at all levels of the game now face. The man who discovered and called attention to the problem – and fought to be heard – is Nigerian-born pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. "Concussion" (PG-13, 2:03) is his story.
Previous Oscar nominee Will Smith stars as Omalu, who happens to be just about the nicest, most generous person you'd ever want to meet – and one of the smartest. He's the coroner for Allegheny County, the county that includes Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Omalu is qualified enough to be an expert witness in a murder trial, astute enough to get an innocent man acquitted of a murder charge and compassionate enough to speak softly to a corpse before beginning an autopsy, asking the deceased to help him discover what happened to him or her. He's also kind enough to share his limited living space with a recent African immigrant, expecting nothing in return. However, as kind and unassuming as Omalu is, he's also extraordinarily determined – determined to do his job as thoroughly as humanly possible and to right wrongs when he finds them, regardless of any obstacles placed in his path.
Omalu is the pathologist on duty when the body of retired Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster (David Morse) is brought in to the morgue, and the good doctor is determined to solve the mystery of this man's death at the age of 50. "Cardiac arrest may be how he died," he tells a co-worker, "but not why." Omalu ignores the pleas of his boss (Mike O'Malley) not to cut open the local legend and even goes as far as paying out of his own pocket for expensive brain analysis that the chief medical examiner won't authorize. The result of these tests is the discovery of a new brain disease that Omalu names CTE. With the support of his boss' boss (Albert Brooks) and another local expert (Stephen Moyer), he publishes a paper on his study of Webster's brain and the conclusions he reached in a major medical journal. He hopes to trigger further study by fellow scientists and an investigation by the National Football League.
Dr. Omalu doesn't quite get the response he was hoping for. Much like the industrialists who likely contributed to global warming and the tobacco companies before them, the NFL flatly denies the science that proved this newly-discovered threat to health and safety. And that's just the beginning. The NFL, the scientific community and even the government work to discredit Omalu and those who help him. He even gets death threats. Omalu responds by publicizing similar findings from autopsies he later does on other former players, meeting with various powerful people and demanding that attention be paid. He receives help from the former Steelers team doctor (Alec Baldwin) and is supported by his new wife (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) every step of the way, but the forces arrayed against him may prove to be just too powerful. Omalu is desperate to be heard by the NFL leadership – people like the new commissioner Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) and NFL Players' Association executive Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), but the question remains as to who can be more stubborn for longer – the NFL or Dr. Omalu.
"Concussion" is an interesting, inspiring and timely film. Smith's portrayal of Omalu, complete with Nigerian accent, is award-worthy. He makes it easy to forget that you're watching Will Smith – not an easy task for such a well-known actor – and he makes us see this story through Dr. Omalu's eyes. Smith's supporting cast is also consistently strong and effective. Peter Landesman's script and direction nicely balance the personal and professional aspects of Omalu's story. The movie provides solid character development which generates empathy from the audience, while giving Movie Fans just enough of the science behind the plot to understand the story, without overindulging in jargon. This film compares most easily to small screen procedurals like "House" and "CSI", with a touch of "Law and Order", but gives us a story and a topic that are even deeper and more relevant. "Concussion" isn't spectacular, but is entertaining and eye-opening. "B+"