"Banging heads is not a natural thing."

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2015)

After reading up about Will Smith's upcoming role in Suicide Squad,I was surprised to recently find out that before Smith returns to the Comic-Book world that he was to star in a fact-based Drama,which led to me getting ready to see the game take place.
The plot:
Becoming a legend in the NFL, Mike Webster finds himself struggling once he retires,with Webster being having to sell his NFL ring.Suffering from serve mental issues,Webster dies from a suicide at just 50 years old.Coming over to the US from Nigeria, Dr. Bennet Omalu decides to perform a full autopsy on Webster.
Studying CT Scans done just 6 months before his death, Omalu is surprised to find no sign of Webster suffering from serve brain damage.Wanting to find out what led to Webster mentally deterioration,Omalu decides to spend his own money for extensive tissue analyses to be performed on Webster's brain.Getting the results,Omalu discovers that Webster suffered from Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),which leads to Omalu wondering about how many other NFL players have suffered from CTE.
View on the film:
Carrying his fake Nigerian accent in a natural manner,Will Smith gives a remarkably restrained performance as Omalu.Showing no sign of his blockbuster swagger,Smith delicately shows Omalu's determination to research on CTE with a quiet passion,which brilliantly stands above the thunder & lightning response that Omalu receives for his discoveries. Whilst her character is not given the depth which appears to be on offer, Gugu Mbatha-Raw gives a graceful performance as Prema Mutiso,with Mbatha-Raw's expressive body language giving the relationship with Omalu a real warmth.
Based on an article in GQ magazine by Jeanne Marie Laskas,the screenplay by writer/director Peter Landesman clearly displays his investigative journalism past,by tackling each of Omalu's attempts to make CTE public knowledge with an intense urgency,as Landesman presents each piece of Omalu's study of CTE on NFL players in a clear and assessable manner, with Landsman giving the title a dramatic atmosphere,as Omalu finds the NFL (and other doctors) trying to keep his results under wraps.Aiming to express the importance that Mutiso plays in Omalu's life,Landesman opens up their relationship in sweet sweeping notes which lack the attention to detail and focus that Omalu's CTE studies are given,which leads to the romance always feeling one step behind.
Filmed on location in Pittsburgh,Landesman & cinematographer Salvatore Totino (who earlier worked on Oliver Stone's football film Any Given Sunday) give the setting a warm,dusty blue (collar) appearance which subtly links up to "the man V the system" that Omalu is facing.Spending a good amount of the film in the morgue,Landesman unveils a strong sensitive approach to the scenes,thanks to tightly held corner shots giving the viewer a hint of the location but keeping well away from any blood/gore,to instead focus on Omalu's diagnosis of CTE.