[yasr_overall_rating]
In Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.
Going against the NFL takes lots of guts! While the glory isn’t totally nonexistent, it is delayed, and only conditionally acknowledged by those who live with the continuous effects of the injuries that impact them on a daily basis. America’s game which should have long been exposed for passively addressing the issues relating to brain injuries sustained by the clashing of heads in football, flexes its powerful muscles in its reaction to the findings of Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), a forensic pathologist in Pittsburgh, who unapologetically researches the harsh realities of the other side of the game.
Based on a true story, Will Smith (Dr. Omalu) plays one hell of a role as the Nigerian immigrant who intended to completely perform his highly investigative research of the dead regardless of the stressors that threatened his professional, personal, and social life. Highly criticized for going beyond the call of duty, Dr. Omalu’s bedside manner included speaking to his deceased patients, with a simple request for their assistance in helping him to understand what brought them to his lab. In the opening scene, Dr. Omalu takes the courtroom by surprise when he responds to the query of his education with a 5-minute diatribe of his various, high-profile degrees, which more than adequately prepared him to speak on behalf of the pathological research which substantiated his claims. Outside of the courtroom and onto his own playing field, the good doctor is unapologetic and refuses to be bullied by his boss, peers and the NFL in order to reduce the exposure on brain injury claims. When the funding is suddenly cut in order to curtail his desire to seek the truth, Dr. Omalu agrees to fund his own research in order to prove his unwavering commitment to great athletes who were losing their way in life due to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). While his intention may have been to tough it out, he had no idea that the industry that boasts of having its own day of the week, would literally run him out of town.
Writer and Director, Peter Landesman, a former New York Times reporter who also directed “Parkland,” the movie about John F. Kennedy, has apparently learned an effective way to deal with controversial subjects onscreen. Capitalizing on the combination of well and little-known actors, with an amazing story line regarding historical controversies seems to be a win-win for all. The added component of an endearing love story leaves the audience something to focus on other than the harsh reality of a subject that hits too close to home. Hats off to Will Smith, an outstanding actor who seems to have checked his ego at the door in order to fully consume his role, which is definitely Oscar-worthy. However, no less credit should be given to his humble, servant-wife, Prema Mutiso (Gugu MBatha-Raw) and his co-stars Alec Baldwin (Dr. Julian Baile), David Morse (Mike Webster), Albert Brooks (Dr. Cyril Wecht) and Luke Wilson (Roger Goodell). With its Christmas Day opening, this melodrama/thriller has all the trimmings of a much-deserved thumbs up!
In theaters December 25th
