Welcome Back, Will Smith

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2015)

After a series of career missteps in truly awful films, Will Smith returns with a vengeance in "Concussion." Smith is nearly unrecognizable as Dr. Omalu, the Nigerian immigrant who takes the powerful NFL to task for the deaths of players due to the brain disease he discovers.
While the plot is a very familiar Little Man David – Corporate Goliath story, the film is elevated by not only Smith's work but terrific supporting players in regretful Alec Baldwin and supportive Albert Brooks. There's particular note of David Morse, a C level, sixth billing actor who continually shows his impressive chops. Morse plays to great effect Mike Webster, a Steelers player who goes quietly insane – pulling teeth and supergluing them back, shocking himself with a Taser – and finally succeeds at suicide. As a Pittsburgh Coroner, Dr. Omalu's scientific curiosity regarding the death of the otherwise healthy Webster sets the ball in motion.
Thing is, Webster is a former football God in Steeler's town where fans take the game far more seriously than a sport ever should be. The pressured Omalu persists, pays out of pocket for expensive tests while the complications quickly pile up.
"Concussion" adds subtext about what it means to be an American. Smith places Heaven just slightly above America. Surely a large corporation who knows they're killing people will take swift and direct action to stop the deaths and forget the billions at stake. That's what America stands for. Or so the not-yet-a citizen Omalu believes. Then the very rude awakening alarm clock goes off.
This ripped from the headlines story also adds a love interest for Omalu that's sweet but neither here nor there.
One laughable scene finds Omalu courted by the Fed to be the US Coroner. The interviewer touts the government's honesty. Omalu doesn't take that corrupt bait.
There's sincerity in these proceedings. A Capraesque quality. "Concussion" successfully walks the tightrope between earnestness and cynicism - quite an accomplishment in contemporary cinema. "Concussion" offers good acting, a solid story that's part forensic mystery, part Don Quixote quest, part pledge of allegiance. It's satisfying and worth a look.