Couldn’t they just have cast Arsenio Hall as Dr. Bennet Omalu and had "She’s Your Queen to Be" as the movie’s theme song? Heck, I would’ve actually paid 3D prices to see that; especially if they forced everyone to have juicy Jeri Curls that were covered in Soul Glo! I can hear Dr. Omalu now in his thick African accent saying "It is impossible to protect the players’ brains because the Jeri Curl juice causes the helmets to constantly slide on every play!" Now that’s Golden Globe material right there!
But no, instead we have to look at an oddball coroner who touches and talks to every dead body as if it’s alive while he listens to Teddy Pendergrass and cuts them up by himself in a basement. Now doesn’t that sound more like a made for TV Harry Connick Jr. film than it does a Will Smith vehicle?
Anyway, Dr. Omalu is actually an unbelievably smart and well educated man. The problem is that he is severely lacking in the social skills department; so consequently everyone but his boss hates him. And when it really comes down to it, it’s even hard for you the viewer to like him. If it weren’t for the insight you get into the players’ suicidal behaviors, you’d find yourself rooting for the NFL as opposed to the movie’s clear underdog protagonist in Omalu.
Even though the acting is a bit campy at times, you can’t help but feel for the players who are clearly desperate to find any kind of help that is available to them as they, nor anyone in the medical profession, can figure out what is causing them to hear voices and do physical harm to themselves. And as a fan of the game, it’s tough to see some of the players you grew up idolizing be reduced to the equivalent of scared little children simply because of the repeated hits they took to the head on the football field. As you watch this film, you learn that the average offensive or defensive lineman will have close to 700 mini concussions in his lifetime due to the fact that they are getting hit on every play.
And that’s what’s so good about this movie, it actually explains what CTE is and what causes it in layman’s terms for us average adults. Smith has said that a number of players have reached out to him to ask him about seeing the film as they will look to this movie to get a better understanding of what is turning out to be an epidemic. And while I don’t usually recommend that people rely on movies for education, I do believe that this is an important film for fans of the game or any parent who is even considering letting their children play football to see. It forces you to realize that your child can actually die from playing this violent sport.
Now while I do agree with the film’s portrayal of the NFL being this evil corporate machine that will do anything it can to protect its product, I did have an issue with it painting of fans and coaches as these blood thirsty individuals. Clearly this film was made by someone who was picked on by jocks in high school and this is his way of attempting to get back at them. The reality is that most people watch football to either keep up with their fantasy team or to see their favorite team win a game. Yeah a nice hit is cool to see every once in a while but no one wants to see someone get hurt. That’s what boxing and MMA is for.
At the end of the day, I still found myself watching football all day on Sunday and absolutely nothing from this film kept me from enjoying it. I rate this movie as pretty WEAK! I’m sorry Smith but all I can do is Tell the truth!!!! Tell the truth!!!!!
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