Concussion (2015 film)


Concussion is a 2015 American biographical sports drama film written and directed by Peter Landesman, based on the exposé "Game Brain" by Jeanne Marie Laskas, published in 2009 by GQ magazine. Set in 2002, the film stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who fights against the National Football League trying to suppress his research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy brain degeneration suffered by professional football players. It also stars Alec Baldwin.
The film premiered at AFI Fest on November 11, 2015 and was released by Columbia Pictures on December 25, 2015. The film grossed $48 million worldwide and received mixed reviews, although Smith earned a Golden Globe nomination.

Plot

is found dead in his pickup truck, after years of self-mutilation and homelessness. Before his death, Justin Strzelczyk, a former fellow football player, confides in Webster that he is starting to lose his memory, is saying odd things to his children, and nearly threw his wife against the wall. A disoriented Webster brushes Strzelczyk's worries off, and deliriously tells him that the most important thing "is to finish the game," reciting what he said during his Hall of Fame speech.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist with the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania coroner's office, handles Webster's autopsy. He wonders how an otherwise healthy man could have degenerated so quickly, and makes it a point to figure out why he died of a heart attack at only fifty years of age. Dr. Omalu closely examines microscope slides of Webster's brain and sees evidence of severe neurotrauma, concluding that Webster died as a result of the long-term effects of repeated blows to the head, a disorder he terms chronic traumatic encephalopathy. With the help of former Steelers team doctor Julian Bailes, fellow neurologist Dr. Steven DeKosky and county coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht, Dr. Omalu publishes his findings in Neurosurgery, which are dismissed by the NFL.
Over several years, Dr. Omalu discovers that three additional deceased NFL players, Justin Strzelczyk, Terry Long, and Andre Waters, exhibited symptoms very similar to Webster's. He persuades newly appointed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to allow him to present his findings before a player safety committee. However, the NFL does not take him seriously, and he is barred from the committee meeting, forcing the former NFL employee Bailes to give the presentation in place of Dr. Omalu. However, the meeting is a set up, where the NFL claims that the players' head trauma is unrelated to football, but rather, due to past injuries. As he leaves the meeting, former NFL Players Association executive Dave Duerson angrily confronts Dr. Omalu and tells him to "go back to Africa."
Dr. Omalu is subjected to considerable pressure to back down from his efforts, as football is a widely beloved sport in Pittsburgh, having provided jobs and allowed men to go to college. Wecht is subjected to a politically motivated prosecution on corruption charges, and Dr. Omalu is forced to leave Pittsburgh soon after, lest he be deported, or sent to prison on petty charges as punishment for tarnishing the NFL's image. Before leaving, he urges the NFL to tell the truth. Dr. Omalu's wife, Prema, suffers a miscarriage after being followed in her car. The Omalus are forced to leave their dream home outside Pittsburgh, relocating to Lodi, California where he takes a job with the San Joaquin County coroner's office.
Three years later, Dr. Omalu is vindicated when Duerson commits suicide due to an increasing inability to cope with worsening cognitive function. In his suicide note, Duerson acknowledges that Dr. Omalu was right, and offers his brain for future research. Dr. Omalu is invited to address an NFLPA conference on concussions and CTE. He informs them that he once wished he had never known Mike Webster, but by knowing him, he has the responsibility to inform NFL players of the true risks that they take by playing. He says that he holds no resentment for the NFL and tells them to forgive themselves and be at peace. Amid growing scrutiny from Congress, the NFL is forced to take the concussion issue more seriously, and in 2011, NFL players sue the league for not properly informing them of the risk of CTE. Dr. Omalu is offered the job of Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia, but the closing credits show Omalu turning the offer down to remain with his family in Lodi, becoming naturalized as a U.S. citizen in February 2015. A final montage includes reports of Junior Seau's suicide in 2012 and subsequent lawsuits brought against the NFL by thousands of former players.

Cast

Development

's idea of an NFL concussion film was inspired by Dr. Bennett Omalu's study about former NFL stars Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, both of whom committed suicide after suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Scott was set to direct after his film , while he and Facio were looking for an A-list writer. In November and December 2013, two more NFL concussion films were in development, first Game Time Decision with writer/director and former NFL training camp attendee wide receiver Matthew A. Cherry and actor Isaiah Washington, and another film League of Denial with producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Landesman had based his script on the 2009 GQ article Game Brain by Jeanne Marie Laskas.
Will Smith entered negotiations to star in the film in June 2014. Smith was officially cast by the next month, when Alec Baldwin entered talks to join. In the months leading up to the start of production, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Luke Wilson, Bitsie Tulloch and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje would be announced as added to the cast.
It received $14.3 million in film tax credits from Pennsylvania.

Filming

started on October 27, 2014, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and filmed there through mid-January. One of the film's key scenes was shot in Altius Restaurant in the Mt. Washington section of Pittsburgh. Other area scenes were shot at a church in Pittsburgh's Hill District, the Braddock Carnegie Library, and in downtown Pittsburgh.

Music

composed the score for the film. Klayton provided synth programming for the score. R&B singer Leon Bridges provided a new song, called "So Long".

Release

The first trailer was released on YouTube on August 31, 2015 by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Sony released the film on December 25, 2015. Marketing included advertisements for the film airing during NFL games.
Concussion was released on Digital HD on March 15, 2016, before being released two weeks later on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on March 29, 2016.

Reception

Box office

Concussion grossed $34.5 million in North America and $14.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $48.6 million, against a budget of $35 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film opened on December 25, 2015 alongside Daddy's Home, Joy, Point Break and the nationwide expansion of The Big Short. In its opening weekend, the film was projected to gross $8–10 million from 2,841 theaters. It eventually grossed $10.5 million, finishing 7th at the box office. Due to Smith's star status and the $35 million production budget, the film was considered a box office disappointment.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 60% based on 200 reviews, with an average rating of 6.08/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Concussion lands a solid, well-acted hit on its impressively timely subject matter, even if its traditional, sports drama structure is a little too safe to deserve a full-on dance in the end zone." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Will Smith's performance was praised for being "sensitive understated" by The Denver Post. Alec Baldwin's performance was well-received, although his accent was criticized.

Accolades

Controversies

Family members of Dave Duerson, a former NFL player who suffered from CTE and committed suicide, claimed the film portrayed Duerson in a bad light. In one scene, Duerson's character called Omalu's character a "quack" in addition to telling him "to go back to Africa" and "get away from our game." In another scene, Duerson is shown mocking former NFL player Andre Waters when he filed an application for benefits in connection with head injuries he sustained while playing in the NFL. Duerson's family members called these scenes false. In response, Landesman, the film's director, stated that the film was "emotionally and spiritually accurate all the way through". When asked about the accuracy of the film, CTE researcher Steven DeKosky also noted that it took numerous liberties.
Slate science writer Daniel Engber, who has been skeptical of the link between CTE and the deaths of players found to have had it, called the film inaccurate in other ways, for example suggesting that Wecht's arrest on corruption charges was motivated by Omalu's paper, when in fact it was published three months afterwards. " feeds into a pervasive myth at the center of the national discussion over football and head injuries," he charges. In particular, he cites a 2012 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study indicating that football players, on average compared to the population as a whole, live longer and generally healthier lives, though the study also indicates, as Engber concedes, that former football players are also more likely to suffer, and die, from neurodegenerative disease.
More recent research and thinking also looks at the steady accumulation of subconcussive blows, in addition to symptomatic concussions, as a major contribution factor in the development of CTE. For example, a 2018 study found that each year an athlete played tackle football before age 12 predicted earlier onset of CTE symptoms by an average of two-and-a half-years, but not symptom severity. These CTE symptoms include cognitive, behavioral, and mood problems.
After comparing the script with the released movie, Deadspin claimed the movie was edited to appease the NFL, including reducing prominence of Roger Goodell and Paul Tagliabue in the film, as well as changing or removing dialogue. The New York Times discovered emails directly referencing removing "unflattering moments for the NFL” and removing “most of the bite” out of the film “for legal reasons with the NFL". Landesman stated the changes were made "to portray the characters and story as accurately as possible to reduce the chance that the league could attack the filmmakers for taking too much creative license".