Review of Concussion (2013) by Walter M — 05 Oct 2013

In the emergency room, Abby(Robin Weigert) less than calmly informs her spouse Kate(Julie Fain Lawrence), a lawyer, that she will be returning to work refurbishing apartments. Along the way, Abby also looks into her physical needs as well, hiring a prostitute(Sarah Dubrovsky) through an ad but finds it less than satisfactory. She has better luck with Gretchen(Kate Rogal) whose contact information she was given through her contractor, Justin(Jonathan Tchaikovsky). Abby enjoys herself so much so that she decides to go into business for herself.

While overall not bad, "Concussion" gets off to a promising start with a nice use of humor but once it gets to its central concept, it just settles down into a rut. While this might work for a marriage, it does not do quite so well for a movie. Thematically, despite what you might have heard, the movie has more in common with "American Beauty" than with "The Kids Are All Right," as "Concussion" also involves a character who is tired of suburban existence and wants to return to her sexier, more exciting youth, which Abby displays through her Blondie and CBGB t-shirts. While she seeks to stimulate herself, she is also looking for stimulating conversation. And being beaned in the head by your kid will do that to a person.