By now the NFL’s flagrant disregard for their players health has been well documented. I myself am a football fan, which makes it all the more difficult to watch the trailer for Will Smith’s upcoming Concussion, the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the man who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy, an issue that is caused by repeated trauma to the head.
His findings were of course swept under the rug by the NFL until recently when the league has attempted to clean up its act through rule changes and awareness. Sadly, that wasn’t prompted by a moral obligation, but by lawsuits and deaths.
Anyway, the movie itself looks seriously dramatic, with lots of muted colors and depressing boardrooms. Smith will either sell this movie or break it. From this trailer his performance looks like a return to his glory days before the likes of After Earth drove him away from more serious roles. Then again it could just be more melodrama.
