“Concussion” is a film that follows Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith, as he discovers long-term brain traumas linked to football and his fight with the NFL, regarding the validity of this claim. Along the way, Bennet gathers a few allies that help him strengthen his case against the NFL and persevere through many hardships.

I’ll start my review with the positive, which is the great acting, overall. I was very impressed with the actors’ ability to give brilliant performances in spite of a very mediocre script. Will Smith, in particular, gives a fiery performance as Omalu, and viewers can really see Omalu’s passion to help the players that have suffered. Another highlight is the football players’ mental breakdowns, which were, in my eyes, the only emotional scenes in the movie. Other well-acted performances come from Alec Baldwin as Dr. Julian Bailes, and Albert Brooks as Dr.Cyril Whent.

However, one of my biggest problems with the movie is easily the lackluster writing. Whoever wrote this film has obviously never heard the phrase “show don’t tell” because instead of furthering the plot with visuals, the film hits you over the head with an encyclopedia’s worth of exposition. Most of the beginning is spent explaining the problem and had me half asleep. A lot of of what it felt unnecessary to me, specifically the five-minute explanation about why the NFL doesn’t like Dr.Omalu after he publishes his study. Luckily, as I said before, the cast somehow has great line delivery, even with this uninspired script.

Another aspect that struck me as unnecessary in a film promoting concussion awareness was a very forced romantic subplot. One day, after Bennet goes to church, the minister asks him to house a woman who recently moved to Pittsburg. The woman, Prema, serves almost no purpose to the plot and all of her scenes with Bennet feel like filler. The pacing of these scenes is off, as the football study part moves forward linearly. A scene would pass and Prema would suddenly be pregnant. Overall, seeing how this forced romantic subplot is about 40 minutes, it really detracts from the rest of the movie.

“Concussion” succeeds in raising awareness for a very serious issue, but falls flat as an entertaining film. I would only recommend seeing it if you want to be more informed on the NFL CTE  investigation, or are a die hard Will Smith fan.

Grade: C+.