Concussion May Be Less Hard-Hitting Than Expected ~ Cinenus

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Sony Pictures released a second trailer for the controversial NFL drama Concussion starring Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic neuropathologist who discovered the dangerous effects of head-trauma suffered in football.

This trailer gives off the same vibes from the first but does show some new footage, notably of Mike Webster (David Morse), the former NFL center who suffered multiple instances of head trauma while playing pro ball. Webster was eventually diagnosed with a brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which Omalu discovered after testing Webster’s brain tissue. With this and other findings, he launched a controversial fight against the NFL to expose the dangers of football-related head injuries.

CTE and its correlation to head injuries sustained in the NFL is still a burgeoning issue but a correlation is definitely there. In fact, Boston University researchers have found signs of CTE in almost 60 former NFL players and the disease has been linked to the deaths of former NFL safety Dave Duerson and former NFL offensive lineman Tom McHale.

That’s some serious stuff but it’s so far unclear how much Concussion will explore these issues. Judging from the trailers, it may focus more on Dr. Omalu’s fight against the NFL instead of his actual findings and their real-word significance. There’s a similar tone in the trailers as Michael Mann’s tobacco industry whistle blower flick The Insider, which isn’t exactly a bad thing but could mean a missed opportunity. That film came out in 1999, when the tobacco industry was already demonized and the harmful effects of smoking were widely known, allowing Mann to focus more on the story of the whistle blower instead of real-world significance of smoking.

Concussion’s story doesn’t have that luxury. Most audiences are unfamiliar with CTE and the extent of these injuries in the NFL, an unfamiliarity the NFL is probably content with. Sony and director Peter Landesman have a prime opportunity to disrupt that and bring a whole helluva lot more attention to these issues but it may ultimately be an opportunity not taken. There’s a line in the trailer where a skeptic says to Smith, “…you’re going to war against a corporation that owns a day of the week,” which is theoretically what Sony is doing, but in September it was revealed via the studio’s email hacks that “most of the bite” was taken out of the film. Significant portions were toned down or completely removed in order to not be so damning of the NFL and to avoid any potential legal trouble. So that war against the NFL may have already been fought and lost months ago.

It’s undeniable the power that the NFL has and if you’re wondering why a movie about such a controversial topic has so far been unmet with any protest or criticism, it may be because the NFL already knows the final product is a whole lot less hard-hitting than it once was. Concussion hits theaters Christmas Day.

Cinenus

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Tuesday, 10 November 2015