In a movie season filled with cover-ups (Spotlight) and corporate malfeasance (The Big Short), Concussion seems amundane. Still, Peter Landesman's examination of an NFL-sanctioned conspiracy has its place. When Americans treat football as a secular religion, its message will impact more viewers.Pittsburgh pathologist Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) autopsies former Pittsburgh Steeler center Mike Webster (David Morse), who died after a prolonged bout with dementia. Astonished by the degeneration of Webster's brain at a relatively young age, Omalu discovers a pattern of similar deaths caused by football-related concussions. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) sanctions a smear campaign to discredit Omalu. Enlisting the help of Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks), Allegheny County coroner, and Julian Bales (Alec Baldwin), a disaffected team doctor, Omalu struggles to expose their cover-up.
Most of Concussion follows whistleblower flicks since The China Syndrome. The NFL stonewalls Omalu's investigation, ridicules his findings and harasses him. He receives threatening phone calls while a car menaces his wife Prema (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Wecht's sidelined by a fraud investigation while Omalu's denied a chance to meet NFL officials. These scenes are disappointingly melodramatic; Concussion's backbone is compelling, especially to this Pittsburgher and football fan.
I knew Webster's story from Gary Pomerantz's Their Life's Work, an excellent history of the '70s Steelers, which is merely the most dramatic case. Webster's slide into dementia baffles doctors and terrifies his family; another Steeler, Justin Strzelzyck (Matt Wills), attacks his children before wrecking his car. Andre Waters (Richard T. Jones) begs Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), teammate-turned-NFL executive, for help; he's coldly told off. Football's essentially a surrogate for war, with its own dangers.
The movie balances appreciation for football's positive qualities (teamwork, character-building, appeal to fans) with its gruesome costs. Macho attitudes blame the players for their shortcomings; painful hits are celebrated. American culture, and Pittsburgh especially, are so immersed in football's mystique that its physical toll's overlooked. It takes an outsider like Omalo to spot it, which alternately leaves him vulnerable to ridicule. How could this Nigerian understand American sports? Will Smith's performance - subdued, witty, quietly determined - makes Omalu an excellent, if eccentric lead. He chats with the corpses he dissects, immediately becoming an outsider, and lives a Spartan lifestyle while saving thousands. His steadfast faith in God, science and the American Dream provide driving forces, along with Prema's support. Square to a fault, he's nonetheless compelling.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw makes a sweet, supportive love interest. Albert Brooks is amusingly cast as Cyril Wecht, Omalo's acerbic mentor. Alec Baldwin is a team doctor who becomes Omalo's biggest supporter. David Morse gives an affecting turn showing Webster's dissent into homelessness and irrationality. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Arliss Howard and Hill Harper play assorted NFL flacks.
Human beings tend to prioritize entertainment generally over important issues; why else would Concussion be a movie? As a depiction of corporate stonewalling, it's sadly typical. As a drama about football's personal toll, it's valuable.
