When you are gathered around the Christmas tree, or exchanging presents with your loved ones, or enjoying It’s A Wonderful Life on constant repeat, you know that at some point you begin thinking: “You know what this Christmas needs? More concussions.” That’s what Sony Pictures is banking on, at any rate, as they nab a December 25, 2015 release date for the Will Smith football movie Concussion.
While I joke, Concussion is actually a serious film about the doctor who discovered the degree of trauma to the head caused by playing professional football, blowing the whistle and causing quite a few headaches across the NFL. Will Smith plays the doctor, Bennet Omalu, who discovered CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in the brains of two NFL players who committed suicide. The film also stars Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Paul Reiser and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, along with Luke Wilson as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The story of Concussion is an interesting and topical one. It’s based on a GQ article about Omalu’s findings, but concerns a problem that has been plaguing the NFL for awhile now. Well-made films about whistle-blowers are always interesting, and the cast is superb, so we can hope for the best for this one.
Although I doubt there are many people who desperately want to see a movie about concussions in pro sports on Christmas Day, Concussion is among the best of the bunch being released on December 25 of this year now that Mission: Impossible 5 has been shifted to a July release date. The film will go up against Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 and Paramount’s Monster Trucks, neither of which seem terribly exciting. This means that Concussion will be one of two more grown-up movies to release that day, alongside David O. Russell’s Jennifer Lawrence vehicle Joy.
You will be able to enjoy Concussion on December 25th, 2015.
