Will Smith's new movie "Concussion" could be his ticket to an Oscar Awards nomination this year, but may cause trouble with the NFL.
The film, created by ex-journalist Peter Landesman, revolves around a Nigerian neuropathologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu. Omalu was the man responsible for bringing to light the connection between football and brain trauma which apparently the NFL is trying to hide from the public to protect its interests, Variety reported.
Landesman said he was attracted to stories like this which remind him of the biblical "David and Goliath" story. Aside from the small guy versus big institution theme, the film is also about a man who expects his adoptive country to rally behind his cause. Landesman was quoted as saying, "I thought this was another way to unpeel the layers away from the theater of it and the pageantry of it to get to the humanity of it."
In report by Vox, it was indicated that Omalu discovered a brain disorder called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE that football players suffer from frequent brain trauma caused by hitting the head repeatedly. The degenerative illness causes depression, dementia and other extreme changes in behavior.
The Nigerian doctor was able to study the brain of deceased Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster who prior to his death showed the symptoms Omalu described in his findings. Needing more evidence to back his claim, he proceeded to examine the brain of another Steelers great Terry Long who committed suicide at the age of 45. Despite his findings, the NFL tried to downplay CTE and attempted to discredit Omalu which is the central theme of the film.
A staffer from the "Men In Black" star's PR firm revealed in a note uncovered in a Sony hack that "Concussion is going to piss off the NFL. We should not try to pretend otherwise."
Watch the trailer below of "Concussion" which will be released this Christmas.
