Dr Benett Omalu, an expert pathologist working in Pittsburg, is known for his methods that don’t stop until he gets to the root cause. When a former Steeler center, Mike Webster turns up on his table after committing suicide, he is stunned by his discovery that could turn the lives of Americans upside down. The denials, racist abuses, intimidations and career threatening incidents that follow Dr Omalu are detailed in the rest of the movie which is based on a true story.

Language:
English
Running Time:
122 min
Rating:
PG-13
Release date:
25 December 2015
Directed by:
Peter Landesman
Produced by:
Elizabeth Cantillon
Giannina Facio-Scott
Ridley Scott
Larry Shuman
David Wolthoff
Written by:
Peter Landesman
Starring:
Will Smith
Alec Baldwin
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Arliss Howard
Paul Reiser
Luke Wilson
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
David Morse
Albert Brooks
Music by:
James Newton Howard
Shot by:
Salvatore Totino
Editing by:
William Goldenberg
Distributed by:
Columbia Pictures

What’s Hot

  • Will Smith does not let his box office accomplishments restrict him from playing a real life character of an African immigrant forensic neuro-pathologist. He has worked on a different accent, and carried himself through the character with a convincingly emotional performance that has earned him a golden globe nomination for his efforts.
  • The visuals provide a deep texture to the movie and a couple of short yet impressive frames – one where Will Smith’s eyes are shown looking into a microscope and the one showing an aerial view of Pittsburgh under a cloudy sky with rays of sunlight seeping through, paint the mood of the story without dialogues.
  • Peter Landesman has etched the characters of Dr Omalu and Dr Julian with great elan with the former being pushed to the limits of his beliefs to uphold the truth and the latter stuck in a dilemma between the desires the heart and the anxiety of the mind. Alec Baldwin plays Dr. Julian with a strong presence on screen.
  • The dialogues and conversations featured in the movie – like the one between Omalu and Prema on the river bank, the frank ones between Omalu and Julian, are top notch and don’t spill over the line of excessive philosophy while producing a significant impact at the same time. The ones that stress how powerful and inevitable NFL has become, are particularly thought provoking.

What’s Not

  • There is always a lingering air of over the top dramatization in the emotionally intended scenes that were supposed to show the helplessness of the suffering players. One such example are the ones involving Dave Duerson’s character who seems to over react to seemingly non-provoking situations.

Badges

Direction
Acting
Cinemaatography

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Concussion is a sports drama that has struck the right balance between handling the emotions and keeping the audience engaged by virtue of a pivotal lead character played to perfection by the protagonist – a stunning show of character and appealing visuals!