Will Smith plays Bennet Omalu as a man of calm resolve, and the film leans on that resolve to carry a story that never quite earns its weight. Concussion tells the true tale of Omalu, a forensic pathologist who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a dead football player, Mike Webster, and fought the NFL to make the public aware of the danger. The stakes are high, but the execution feels heavy-handed.
Trailer, via Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Omalu’s Discovery
The film opens in 2002, with Webster found dead in his truck, homeless and broken. Smith’s performance grounds the early scenes, and the autopsy sequence, where Omalu examines Webster’s brain under a microscope, is the film’s clearest moment. The discovery itself is presented as a quiet act of observation, not spectacle.
The NFL Fight
Omalu’s findings are dismissed by the league, and the film stages a series of confrontations between him and NFL officials. Julian Bailes, played by Alec Baldwin, helps Omalu publish in Neurosurgery, but even that publication draws little attention. The film wants to build tension, but the script relies on repeated scenes of rejection rather than on new information.
The Supporting Cast
Albert Brooks plays Dr. Cyril Wecht, and Eddie Marsan plays Dr. Steven DeKosky, both colleagues who support Omalu’s work. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Prema Mutiso, Omalu’s wife, whose scenes feel underwritten next to Smith’s. The film runs 123 minutes, and some of that length goes to padding the middle, where the fight against the NFL repeats without adding new detail.
The Death Scenes
Strzelczyk, Long and Waters die in ways that mirror Webster’s decline. The film shows their families, their confusion, and their deaths, but it rarely connects those deaths directly to football in a way that advances the story. Instead, the film stacks bodies and hopes the audience will feel urgency.
The Committee Meeting
Omalu is barred from presenting his findings before the NFL’s player safety committee, and Bailes takes his place. This scene should be the film’s climax, but it arrives late and feels rushed, a payoff the movie hasn’t built toward.
A Mixed Verdict
The film is not a failure. Smith gives a steady, controlled performance, and the premise is genuinely troubling. But the script never rises above its own material, and the final stretch loses momentum it should have maintained.
Key Facts
– Director: Peter Landesman
– Runtime: 123 minutes
– Release: December 25, 2015
– Gross: $48 million worldwide
– Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu
“All we have to do, is finish the game.”
The film is a sincere attempt to tell a difficult story, but sincerity alone does not make for great cinema. Concussion is a worthy subject badly served by a screenplay that trusts repetition over development.
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