Sony Pictures' "Concussion" opens Friday, and even though football "is by far the most popular televised spectator sport in America," neither the movie's writer and director Peter Landesman, nor actor David Morse, is "concerned about negative reactions from passionate fans," according to Ed Symkus of the BOSTON GLOBE. Landesman said, "I was never afraid of the consequences; I was never afraid of alienating anybody, because I believe that an audience respects the truth, and respects having an emotional, authentic experience in a movie theater." Landesman insists that there "was no meddling from the NFL, nor was there any contact" between the league and himself -- or the studio -- "beyond a single e-mail." He said, "It was a one-e-mail exchange between me and someone at the NFL, just wondering if it was a good idea to have a meeting. But I decided, and the studio decided, that I didn’t need them, that they had nothing to offer me. So I canceled the meeting." Morse, who portrays late Pro Football HOFer Mike Webster, "admits to being conflicted about football after making the film." Morse said, "It’s hard for me to watch the game now, knowing what I know about what’s happening to those people on the field. Sure, the protocols are changing, but it’s still a really brutal sport" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/20).
THE END OF FOOTBALL? In Cleveland, Joanna Connors wrote the film "might prove to be the tipping point" in putting an end to football. The science of concussions and the NFL's "disgraceful conduct toward its players and various doctors has been well-documented over the past decade," especially in the "Frontline" documentary and book "League of Denial." However, people "can't underestimate the mainstream power of Hollywood" and actor Will Smith, who portrays protagonist Dr. Bennet Omalu. "The movie makes you want to punch [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell and his minions in the head." The league itself "emerges as the truly scary bogeyman in this movie -- which, it's safe to say, plenty of mothers and fathers will view as a horror flick" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 12/22). In New Orleans, Mike Scott wrote there is "no way the NFL signed off on 'Concussion,'" just as there is "no way the league wants" people to see it. And that is "probably the best reason to go see Landesman's film, which is based on real events and which is at once compelling, compassionate and impossible to ignore" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 12/22). THE MMQB's Peter King wrote for those who have read "League of Denial" or "watched the excellent PBS Frontline documentary" on the subject, "not much" about "Concussion" will be surprising. King: "I can nitpick some of the little things I found wrong with the film ... but mostly the dramatic license taken in the film didn’t bother me" (MMQB.SI.com, 12/21). In N.Y., Allen Salkin writes the movie will "deepen a debate about the game's safety" and makes the NFL "look like a tobacco company run by the Nixon administration" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/23). In Green Bay, Richard Ryman wrote under the header, "NFL Will Take Hits From 'Concussion'" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 12/22).
