Will Smith is up for aGolden Globe as Best Actor forConcussion.And he deserves highest of praise for playing real-life forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian immigrant with no knowledge of football who became the NFLs worst nightmare. Why? As an outsider in the Pittsburgh coroners office he infuriates co-workers by speaking gentlyto thebodieshe dissects believing the dead have astoryto tell the good doctor steps on important toes.
He runs tests on the brain of Iron Mike Webster (a superb David Morse), the former Hall of Fame center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and finds that the head-butting Webster took on the field led to memory loss, dementia and his untimely death.Naming the disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Omalu crusades to warn players, pro and amateur, of a condition that could not be detected until after apatients death.To Omalu, getting dinged up from repeated blows to the head must cease being a source of pride for players and a way to win cheers from an ignorant crowd. Players need to knowwhat theyre up against.
Will Smith's Movies, Ranked Worst to BestFlashback: See Keith Urban's Dazzling Thanksgiving NFL Halftime ShowThe 10 Best R&B Songs of 2019
Omalu gets support from hisboss, Cyril Wecht, played by a scene-stealing,wickedly wry Albert Brooks, who bemoans that Sundays used to be owned by God, not the NFL. And he wins overJulian Bailes (Alec Baldwin), a former Steelers doctor seeking redemption for sending so many concussion victims back in the game. But there are profits to protect here, and theNFL repped by Luke Wilson as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hits back hard, threatening Omalus job and his stellar reputation.
Its a gripping story, most devastating when we see rugged players such asJustin Strzelczyk (Matthew Willig) and Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) sufferbreakdowns for reasons that dont show up on brain scans.Director Peter Landesman (Parkland), who also wrote the script, undercuts it with plodding pacing, endless shots of talking heads, a sermonizing tone, and wan interludes with Omalu and his wife, Parma (a beautiful but criminally wasted Gugu Mbatha-Raw). The film goes slack when its screws most need to tighten.Luckily, Smith flawless in accentandcommitment to Omalusworthy cause grips you from first to last. Hardly mandatory pre-Super Bowl viewing for football junkies. But wait. Maybe it should be.
Posting Komentar
Posting Komentar