Concussion,
directed by Peter Landesman
(PG-13, 123 minutes)
One of the things we forget about Will Smith is that the man can act. For proof, see his portrayal of Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion.
Omalu is a Nigerian native who identified and named chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2002. CTE is the concussion-related brain disease that has been found in a number of athletes in contact sports -- especially professional football and hockey players -- after their deaths.
Smith is not the problem with Concussion, which is a formulaic procedural that pits a naive truth teller against powerful corporate forces. No, the problem is that Concussion, which starts out as an angry takedown of the smug and untouchable National Football League, turns out to be disappointingly conventional.
It could have been a lot more.
Director Peter Landesman had a fine record as an investigative reporter before he began directing films, and there are signs of that seeping into the screenplay. But he hangs around with Omalu and doesn't focus on the NFL, which apparently knew for years that repetitive head trauma could lead to problems for players after their retirement from football. That's where the power play lies.
Concussion isn't terrible; it's just the sort of movie you'd expect from Hollywood, a reductive lesson that's too simplistic to hold an audience's attention.
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MovieStyle on 04/01/2016