Review of Concussion (2015) by Spangle — 21 Oct 2017

Like a plain piece of white bread, Concussion is alright. It would be better if it were toasted. Butter would be a nice touch. Maybe even some jelly. Heck, some meat or cheese in between and the white bread could be transformed into a greatly delectable sandwich. Unfortunately, the toaster is busted, the butter expired, you ran out of jelly last week, and the meat and cheese were on the shopping list but you entirely forgot to pick them up. Thus, you are stuck with just this plain piece of white bread. It will get you through the meal, but it is rather boring, predictable, and presents a similar element - the white bread - to many better experiences eating white bread. However, with nothing to accompany this peace of white bread, it just has those echoes of greatness rather than actually achieving it at all. Concussion is exactly this, plus if that white bread had an African accent and cloyingly grabbed your arm trying to get you to understand what it was preaching about.

With echoes of The Insider - hell, the film mentions how the NFL is similar to the tobacco industry repeatedly - but without any of the tension, Peter Landesman's Concussion explores the work of Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) in exposing the dirty secret of the NFL. It is a worthy subject and one that could be great in right hands. Unfortunately, Landesman only has left hands so that ship seems to have sailed. Detailing his research, solemn findings, and the eventual rejection of that information by the NFL, Concussion happens both too slowly and too quickly to truly make an impact. In essence, the film's pacing drags terribly. This is a slow, methodical film that deals with a very technical subject in a dreadfully uninteresting way. Will Smith is passionate in the lead role, but off-putting and unengaging as the self-righteous Omalu, who constantly gives off any air of superiority. Stodgily going through his research and fight with the NFL, Concussion is never thrilling or gripping. It seems to just go through the motions and beats of a great film like The Insider without any of the heart or understanding of what made that film work so well. Instead, it just goes beat-by-beat without ever hooking in the audience or making them truly care about what it is talking about. It, instead, operates like a lecture about CTE and what happened to Omalu in the aftermath of his article being published about the topic. As a narrative work, it is just not that interesting and lacks any of the requisite passion, as such it just happens.

A lot of this lack of intrigue, tension, or passion, ties into how the film goes too fast. The pacing is slow, but the narrative progression is rather rapid. In one scene, Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) urges Dr. Omalu to get a girlfriend. Just a few scenes later, he is handed a woman to house by his Church. He then gets married just a bit later. With his research, things do happen more methodically, but when the NFL rejects the presentation by Dr. Omalu's co-worker Dr. Bailes (Alec Baldwin), it seems as though the research has hit a brick wall. Fortunately, two scenes later, another poor sap dies and Dr. Omalu can get his big celebratory moment when his research is finally accepted. In essence, there is no triumph or sense of the film having earned its emotional send-off. It never builds the anticipation of seeing him victorious or positions it as too much of a struggle. Instead, the film's over-dramatic and showy approach to the film renders it dramatically inert, barreling towards a cliche celebratory speech with powerful words delivered to a body of men who do want to hear him speak. We know Dr. Omalu will be successful - even if unfamiliar with the story itself - because the film clearly positions him as a crusader for truth and the argues him to be the very essence of what makes America great. In this, the film is almost merciful in not beating around the bush and pretending that he may not be successful. Yet, this lack of doubt that feels akin to inevitability is often what robs Concussion of any intrigue or of being too compelling. It is a film that so desperately wants to cross the finish line and let its hero into the victory circle, it skims through the troubles he faces and instead opts to focus on the victory which is terribly dull.

Tragically, even the pushback received by Dr. Omalu is either factually inaccurate or forced, demonstrating that perhaps the film was actually better off for focusing on his successes, even if unearned due to lack of tension. Showing the arrest of Dr. Wecht, a verbal attack by Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaye), his wife Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) being followed by a suspicious car, and then her later miscarriage, the film misconstrues facts to create tension but then immediately drops the topic.