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  • Reviews: Concussion (2015)
  • 2015 Films

Reviews: Concussion (2015)

Governing Committee December 24, 2015 4 minutes read

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concussion

concussionHere are review links for this film submitted by our members:

  • [New – 2/18/16] | José Arce @ LaButaca.net [Spanish]
    • Excerpt: Will Smith rebosa ansia de premios en una película escasita de emociones a todos los niveles técnicos e interpretativos. Tomad nota: si te golpeas la cabeza constantemente durante décadas, por mucho que lleves casco, igual pagas un precio. Ajá. Quién lo iba a decir.
  • Jason Bailey @ Flavorwire
    • Excerpt: Concussion’ doesn’t veer to far from formula; it’s a crusading whistleblower movie, not to far from (though slightly inferior to) ‘The Insider,’ both an actor’s showcase and a vehicle for creating restrained goosebumps. This is the finest film work of Smith’s career to date — his accent, while initially jarring, is convincing, and the scenes in which he speaks truth to power (particularly the trailer’s already ubiquitous “Tell the truth!” directive) are intense yet quiet, angry yet controlled.
  • Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
    • Excerpt: A zealous Christian and gifted pathologist takes on the NFL over player safety.
  • Francisco Cangiano @ CineXpress [Spanish]
    • Excerpt: Aunque nunca logra ese gran impacto final deseado y/o prometido, Concussion sí ofrece una interesante historia y arroja más luz sobre un tema importante y relevante a nuestros tiempos. La actuación de Will Smith es el punto más brillante del largometraje, mientras que el resto del reparto le ofrece gran apoyo. Gracias mayormente a esto, Consussion vale la pena y termina saliendo a flote por encima de varios fallos.
  • Bill Clark @ From The Balcony
    • Excerpt: Though overly melodramatic at times and absent the full details of the toll CTE really takes, Concussion is at its best when operating as an underdog story.
  • Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
    • Excerpt: Will Smith is on a charm offensive in this role.
  • Derek Deskins @ Next Projection
    • Excerpt: Concussion had to be good, it had to scare us, and it should have scared the NFL. Instead it just sits there idly in a bed of clichés and manufactured tension.
  • Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
    • Excerpt: Unfortunately, writer/director Peter Landesman (“Parkland”) doesn’t have a great handle on the pacing. The movie’s efforts to dramatize Omalu’s personal life are well-acted, but momentum-halting. More’s the pity there, as Gugu Mbatha-Raw, plays Omalu’s girlfriend, and eventual wife, Prema, with charm and sincerity. Unfortunately, the courtship tends to derail the medical mystery, which is where “Concussion” is at its best.
  • Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
    • Excerpt: Concussion possesses neither courage nor conviction.
  • James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
  • Candice Frederick @ Reel Talk Online
  • Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
    • Excerpt: Solemn, straight-forward, ploddingly-paced procedural which is surprisingly ineffective, given the topic and Will Smith’s superb, understated portrayal…
  • Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
    • Excerpt: Will Smith’s most impressive achievement since The Pursuit of Happyness. Unfortunately, the diffuse narrative spends way too much time on tedious details involving his personal life.
  • MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
    • Excerpt: A quietly horrifying, solidly entertaining medical procedural that makes no bones about the terrible damage American football causes to its players.
  • Charlie Juhl @ Citizen Charlie
    • Excerpt: Will Smith and director Peter Landesman are full steam ahead on the paranoia front, but it is more than laughable for the NFL to proclaim slamming your skull into other people a couple thousand times is no big deal.
  • Ben Kendrick @ Screen Rant
    • Excerpt: Concussion isn’t a great biopic but it tells a great story – thanks to stirring subject matter and a quality performance from Will Smith.
  • Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
  • Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
  • Dan Lybarger @ KCActive
    • Excerpt: Haiku Review Concussion Movies should pull on an audience’s emotions, not their endorphins.
  • Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
    • Excerpt: Will Smith is excellent, and the story absolutely drives home the point that the NFL is perfectly willing to sacrifice the health and well-being of the very players who line its executives’ pockets.
  • Jared Mobarak @ BuffaloVibe
    • Excerpt: There’s enough to love about Concussion and at the top of that list is its honesty in showing how wrong the NFL was and to a point still is. Players now know what their million dollar salaries cost and if they still want to play, we’ll continue to cheer.
  • Stefan Pape @ HeyUGuys
  • [New – 2/18/16] | Diego Salgado @ Guía del Ocio [Spanish]
  • Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
    • Excerpt: Landesman’s film is based on an important—and still very topical—story, but could have used a better game plan to tell it…devolves into an earnest, well-meaning combination of character study, medical procedural and corporate thriller that rarely rises above the standard of conventional TV docudrama.

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