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Concussion

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02:08

Concussion

Name: Concussion
Director: Peter Landesman
Genre: Documentary, Drama, Sport
Released: 2015
Duration: 1 h 57 min
Cast: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Arliss Howard, Paul Reiser

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Documentary
Drama

2015
Peter Landesman
117 mins
12A

Summary

A doctor discovers a dead American football player died as the result of brain trauma inflicted on the field. He tries to raise awareness of the danger and provide greater protection from injury for players, but finds himself up against a powerful institution determined to bury the risk. Fact-based drama, starring Will Smith, Alec Baldwin and Albert Brooks.

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Damon Wise

The story of Dr Bennet Omalu, the Nigerian pathologist whose 2002 autopsy on American football hero Mike Webster revealed previously undiscovered levels of brain trauma in the most popular game in the US, is a strange subject for an awards-hopeful movie. Nevertheless, Will Smith gives it his best shot in one of his more grounded performances, portraying Omalu as a decent, religious man driven by duty and respect for the dead. As a two-hour feature, however, it is something of a mixed bag, playing out like a macabre Patch Adams as the doctor battles resentment from both the medical establishment and the National Football League while tenderly carving up corpses. An ill-judged love story, involving Omalu's Kenyan wife (an underused Gugu Mbatha-Raw), only adds to the sense of clutter. Nevertheless, there are flashes of what made the story interesting in the first place, not so much in the David v Goliath aspect of Omalu's work but in his fascinating approach to forensics.

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7.1/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameDr Bennet OmaluWill SmithDr Julian BailesAlec BaldwinPrema MutisoGugu Mbatha-RawDr Joseph MaroonArliss HowardDr Elliot PellmanPaul ReiserRoger GoodellLuke WilsonDave DuersonAdewale Akinnuoye-AgbajeMike WebsterDavid MorseDr Cyril WechtAlbert BrooksChristopher JonesHill HarperDr Steven DeKoskyEddie MarsanDr Ron HamiltonStephen MoyerKeana StrzelczykBitsie Tulloch