AFI Fest Review: Peter Landesman’s ‘Concussion’ Starring Will Smith, Albert Brooks, And Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Previously rumored as neutered by the very group it’s critiquing, fear not: “Concussion” actually retains the startling truths about the effects of brain trauma in the NFL. If your first question is, “What startling truths?” then permit the film — dutifully written and directed by Peter Landesman and featuring stellar work by Will Smith — to elaborate. But ultimately it’s the struggle to couch those facts in a satisfying arc that hobbles the piece; it’s the difference between a well-acted vehicle for awareness, rather than the alert and pointed scientific drama toward which it aims.

The one to lead us through these breakthroughs is Bennet Omalu (played by Smith), a Nigerian-born forensic pathologist in Pittsburgh who, in 2002, first noticed abnormalities in the brains of professional football players. Deeply religious, wedded to the American Dream, and devoted to the “science of death,” he immerses himself in his work, speaking to his cadavers for answers and listening...