What You Need To Know Before Seeing ‘Concussion’

On December 25, Christmas day, Concussion starring Will Smith hits the theaters across the country.  The movie has been hyped up for some time and is sure to do well in the box offices. More importantly, the movie is poised to move the serious issue of brain injuries in the sport of football to the nations forefront. After watching the movie myself, there were a number of things I found people should know before seeing the movie.

This is the story of a naive Nigerian doctor, Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), who comes to America in hopes of a better life and starting a family. With little-to-no prior knowledge of the game of football, he stumbles upon the issue of brain injuries in the sport and decides to look into it. The movie shows the life events of Bennet as he struggles to fit into America. As a foreigner who is attacking not only America’s prized possession of football but also Big Business, Bennet faces a series of trials and tribulations including racism and being the target of large corporations. But that’s not why you want to go see the movie. People are flocking to see this movie because of the alleged attack on one of America’s biggest businesses: The NFL. Well, the movie isn’t quite the “attack” you might be expecting to see.

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First things first, Concussion is not a “feel-good” movie. Christmas is notorious in the movie industry as the time to release a box office blockbuster. Usually that movie consist of a love story or one that the entire family can make an evening out of. Before seeing Concussion, you should know this is a serious movie that is not to be taken lightly. There is little to no joking at all throughout the film, and it lacks any character that can provide a form of comic relief for you. That being said, this is a very moving movie that people need to see to fully understand the trouble surrounding mental health in sports.

Secondly, the acting is incredible. Smith is given the role of portraying the Nigerian doctor who doesn’t understand America’s love for football. This had to be a tough task for the Fresh Prince. His accent at first may sound a little too strong and unrealistic; however, this is most likely due to the fact that we have seen Smith on our televisions since his teenage days yet have never seen him preform a role quite like this. As the movie goes on, the accent becomes more and more realistic and eventually you will buy into it completely. We do get one or two of the “Will Smith fighting back the tears as his face seems to be dripping off of his head” scene that we are all accustomed to, but it wouldn’t be right to leave them out. On top of Will’s performance, the acting performances that portray the ex-football pros trying to deal with their mental issues are top of the line. To anyone who knows someone who has dealt with mental health one way or another, these scenes are about as real as they get. They will make you squeamish in the stomach and potential jerk a couple of tears out of you, which is precisely what the movie is going for.

And what about the “attack” on the NFL? Let me make this clear, the idea of this movie is not to end the National Football League. All of those football diehards that will refuse to watch the movie because their too “tough” or whatever it might be; that’s exactly who this movie wants to attract. It is definitely knocking on the door of the NFL and will invite some serious criticism to the league.  But you need to know that this movie is not aimed at ending football for everyone, it is simply asking that the safety of the sport get more attention.

The movie might make you question your undying love for the NFL.  Believe me, as someone who writes about football on a daily basis; even I began to question how I got to the point that I am willing to look past the serious issues of concussions in order to get my fix of entertainment. Or how a company got so big it was able to own one day of the week. However, the writers repeatedly force the issue that football is something beautiful and we are allowed to cherish it.  They aren’t asking the viewers to boycott Sundays. This movie was made to bring forward a safety epidemic; not to expedite the end of football, but to start the search for a solution to the games biggest problem. It’s time for us as a society to face the facts of the correlation between football and brain trauma. When Bennet Omalu started his research of CTE (concussion related mental diseases), the NFL hid it from the public. As they say in the movie, Dr. Bennet Omalu finally gave the NFL’s “boogyman” a name.  The idea of this movie is to inform the public and the players of the realities surrounding football and hopefully to force the NFL to face their biggest problem.

To sum up the movie Will Smith leaves you with a huge monologue that sounds like this:  When soldiers sign up to serve, they know that they are jeopardizing their lives. When a football player signs up to play, he needs to know that he is jeopardizing his mind, money, family, and life. Until we can find a fix to this problem, the NFL needs to at least inform their employees as to what they could potentially face later in life.

Concussion is a must-see and the acting will certainly call for nominations. The facts that the movie was able to provide viewers with will most certainly do the job of bringing the average football fan up to speed with the realities of concussions. Hopefully we will soon see a change in, if not how the game is played, then how the league treats its players.