Concussion Movie Review

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   CONCUSSION is Will Smith's best performance in years. Plain and simple.
   CONCUSSION is the true story of pathologist Dr. Bennent Omalu, who dared to take on the NFL and expose the truth about the effects of football players who suffer from concussions on the football field.
   The question that has to be asked before I go forward with my thoughts on this film is this-am I biased in a negative way towards football and the NFL in general because of my views toward football? Maybe. For those who know me personally, know that I played pee wee,junior high and a bit of high school football for 11 years straight. To say that I was burned out is an understatement. And living in Texas, probably the biggest football state in the country, didn't help matters. I had football shoved down my throat from every direction. I do like it to a certain extent, but I do not and never will understand why football consumes millions of peoples lives like a drug. Rant over.
  Now, back to my thoughts on CONCUSSION.
  The film plays like part murder mystery thriller and part an undercover expose, like JFK or ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. The bad guys in the film are the NFL. They are portrayed as an organization that will stop at nothing to protect their multi-billion dollar company and football itself, an American institution. CONCUSSION is a thought provoking film, but sometimes I feel it might be a bit too harsh on the NFL.
  I also understand what it's like to suffer from concussions. I've had at least 6 that I can remember before I graduated High school and one from (as an adult) from boxing. But that's another story. I say this because I understand what the film is trying to say, but I still can't shake the feeling that it's portrayal of the NFL is a tad bit comic bookish.
   All that being said, I found CONCUSSION to be a solid film and an excellent performance by Will Smith and wonderful supporting performances by Alec Baldwin and Albert Brooks.
  I give CONCUSSION a solid B+.
A side note: None of the concussions I suffered from were from playing Football.

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