Concussion

CONCUSSION (Peter Landesman, 2015)

Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Coroner’s Office seems like an unlikely place for a challenger to the National Football League to emerge, yet that’s where Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) makes an important discovery in CONCUSSION. The Nigerian immigrant and absurdly well-educated neuropathologist has no particular interest in or objection to the American sport until he performs an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steelers great Mike Webster (David Morse). Omalu believes that repeated blows to the head are responsible for causing the early dementia Webster experienced. He publishes his findings on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, and naϊvely believes the NFL will be grateful to learn about risks to their players’ health.

Fair or not, CONCUSSION does not compare favorably to SPOTLIGHT, another recent process film about exposing a systemic problem that leaders have hidden or ignored. CONCUSSION well-assembled but indistinct scenes of research in the first half show Omalu working at personal and financial cost to find out why professional football players are exhibiting such unusual psychological distress that result in premature deaths. He pursues the answer to a question not being asked and arrives at a conclusion that could threaten a hugely profitable corporation. When it sticks to the work Omalu does in the morgue and at his kitchen table, CONCUSSION grants a glimpse into the thankless efforts that go into producing such a study.

After Omalu and colleagues have published, CONCUSSION falls prey to the trap of needing to make the NFL into the proverbial moustache-twirling fat cat villains with pervasive menacing influence like one of James Bond’s SPECTRE foes. There are intimations that the league may have a hand in the FBI leveling trumped up charges at Omalu’s boss Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) to remove him from office and coming after the good doctor too. CONCUSSION also suggests the possibility of he and his girlfriend-turned wife Prema (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) being followed. Such finger-pointing and dramatic turns pull CONCUSSION into thriller territory that is at odds with the research and policy matters at hand.

CONCUSSION succeeds in showing the toll football took on some gridiron heroes and their families, but ultimately the story belongs to Omalu. Smith portrays him as a gentle and generous man, but the film and performance struggle to develop him beyond being an honorable do-gooder. Omalu’s romance with Prema generates some nice moments, especially when he talks about being an outsider, yet these scenes stray from the film’s focus.

Grade: C-

Draft Day

DRAFT DAY (Ivan Reitman, 2014)

With less than thirteen hours before the NFL Draft Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) should be finishing research on whether Ohio State linebacker Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman) or Florida State running back Ray Jennings (Arian Foster) is the likely best use of the seventh pick. Although he seems content to stay put and take either player, team owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) impresses upon Sonny that he needs to make a splash. So, when the Seattle Seahawks dangle the top pick, the Browns GM makes the trade even though he gives up a king’s ransom to seal the deal.

In DRAFT DAY the owner, coaching staff, scouts, other front office personnel, and fans expect the team has moved up to select Wisconsin quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence). The bold decision causes some dissension, though. Coach Penn (Denis Leary) doesn’t think they should be using a valuable pick for a player at a position where he’s satisfied with their starter. The current QB, Brian Drew (Tom Welling), is angry that he may get displaced, especially after working hard to rehabilitate from a season-ending injury. As if the internal disagreements aren’t distracting enough, Sonny is also dealing with the news that his girlfriend Ali (Jennifer Garner), a Browns executive in charge of the salary cap, is pregnant and grieving for his recently deceased father, a coaching legend he fired.

Make no mistake, DRAFT DAY is a feature-length advertisement for the National Football League and its upcoming amateur draft on primetime television. The heavy hands of their legal and marketing teams are evident throughout. Although DRAFT DAY doesn’t portray the league’s employees and incoming players as choirboys, it protects them with a screenplay equivalent to a no-contact practice jersey. The character flaws and controversies look pretty mild compared to what pops up in sports pages. Meanwhile the film bestows superhero-like status upon those in NFL front offices. Director Ivan Reitman uses weaving split-screen like comic book panels and often lets the characters literally break the boundaries of their boxes. (The elements of fantasy also extend to presuming the woeful Browns will make moves that improve the franchise. Only in the movies.)

As much as the DRAFT DAY squad might like to think this fictional tale is a football version of MONEYBALL, its decision makers reinforce the status quo rather than challenge it. Even with hours of game film and pages of combine measurements, GMs try to find an edge in predicting success via secondhand gossip and the Wonderlic Test. The research and evaluative tricks are intended to serve as more evidence for burnishing the reputations of these supposedly brilliant men in front offices when they really point out how desperate the executives are to hedge their bets. The disruption caused by one football war room going against conventional wisdom is comical yet may be the most on-point detail in the film.

DRAFT DAY is smitten with the art of the deal, even if these transactions occur with high predictability and ease. Although the film takes us behind the scenes, Costner maintains the public persona of a sports GM, most of whom are notorious for saying a lot that means very little. As he wheels and deals, Costner provides faith that Sonny knows what he’s doing despite lack of proof that he is any good at his job. Because there’s surprisingly little drama in swapping picks, DRAFT DAY tries to raise the stakes by having Sonny’s private affairs compete for his attention. Costner and Garner exhibit good chemistry in mixing the professional and personal, although their subplot is a non-starter. Garner handles her thankless role nicely, but it feels like her character is there because someone noticed they needed a woman in the movie. A minor storyline about Sonny’s mother (Ellen Burstyn) wanting to go over his father’s will and a letter to him on this of all days rings completely false and takes away time from more pressing matters. Thanks in large part to Costner ‘s charisma DRAFT DAY has a folksy charm that masks the corporate promotional vehicle he’s anchoring, but anyone with a passing knowledge of pro football should be able to see this as the unadulterated myth-making it is.

Grade: C+

Head Games

HEAD GAMES (Steve James, 2012)

In the documentary HEAD GAMES sports journalist Bob Costas says, “In most other sports the chance of injury is incidental.  In football the chance of injury and long term serious effects is fundamental, and no honest person can watch this sport and not acknowledge that.”  If Costas is right, there are a lot of dishonest or, at best, willfully ignorant sports fans and commentators.  Spend enough time watching football games or listening to sports talk radio and inevitably complaints of protective rules making the game too soft will surface.  Go to a sports bar on any fall Saturday or Sunday and at some point you’ll likely hear patrons, if not the announcers, bellowing about how an unnecessary roughness penalty is uncalled for or how a dazed player isn’t tough enough.  

Violence, especially in the highlight reel hits, is a significant part of football’s appeal, but after seeing HEAD GAMES, one wonders if the long term viability of the sport is threatened as consequences of such brutal repetitive contact become better understood.  It doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that years down the line enough debilitated former players or their families sue the professional league into oblivion or the pipeline of participants dries up because concerned parents refuse to allow their children to play.   

Director Steve James draws from Chris Nowinski’s book HEAD GAMES: FOOTBALL’S CONCUSSION CRISIS and The New York Times reporter Alan Schwarz’s investigative writings to examine the effects of brain trauma experienced in the normal course of playing football, hockey, and soccer.  (Boxing is touched upon in one heart-rending section but is largely absent from the conversation, probably because public awareness of that sport’s dangers are widely acknowledged.)  Nowinski, an All-Ivy defensive tackle at Harvard and former WWE wrestler, was motivated to learn more about concussions after an injury forced him to retire.  He and others have found that concussions are much more commonplace, even among youth and college players, and that former National Football League players are at significantly higher risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can lead to premature dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.

HEAD GAMES is an important film for those who play and watch sports.  It explains what the symptoms of a concussion are, what happens in the brain during the trauma, and how to proceed if receiving the injury.  Education of players, coaches, and trainers won’t eliminate concussions, but it can help them to identify when someone should be pulled from competition for personal safety.

Still, all the information in the world won’t matter if a culture change in sports doesn’t occur.  Whether it’s internal motivation or pressure from coaches and fans, athletes often feel obligated to play through injuries and will not report them, especially if it means losing a spot on the field or having one’s toughness questioned.  

Although HEAD GAMES is an advocacy documentary that criticizes the NFL in particular for being slow to accept scientific findings on concussions, James and his subjects aren’t crusading for the end of football or other games that present the risk of head trauma. The film struggles with the contradiction of knowing the serious risks while enjoying the games as participant and spectator.

Grade: B 

Undefeated

UNDEFEATED (Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, 2011)

With many school districts struggling financially, the money funneled to athletics programs deserves scrutiny.  What is the value in having extracurricular sports when lack of funding may also require reducing academic offerings?  Are the education system’s priorities misplaced when a student with marginal scholastic achievements but superior and in-demand physical skills has a better chance of attending college than a classmate with a high grade point average?  What should be made of poor schools that, in order to have enough money to sustain their programs, travel significant distances to face wealthy schools that are paying them to play the games?  While the documentary UNDEFEATED concerns itself with seeking an answer to just the first of those questions, directors Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin don’t ignore the realities surrounding this inspirational tale of mentorship through high school football.

At the center of the film and the players’ attention is Manassas High School head coach Bill Courtney.  He’s in his sixth year volunteering to lead the North Memphis, Tennessee team as they begin the 2009 season.  From the first scene it is clear that Courtney isn’t giving his time and energy for the power or glory associated with the position in some communities.  In a couple weeks he must deal with more incidents of players getting shot and embroiled in legal trouble than many coaches will experience in a career.  The team has a losing history and a reputation for being undisciplined.  For toppers, Manassas has not won a playoff game in its 110-year existence.  Hopes are higher than usual for the upcoming season, but at Manassas nothing is guaranteed.

Three player stories come to the forefront in UNDEFEATED.  Senior offensive lineman O.C. Brown is unusually fast for his enormous size and thus attracts college recruiters.  The big question is if he can keep up his grades and score high enough on a standardized test to be eligible at the next level.  Senior Montrail “Money” Brown’s mental toughness and desire compensate for whatever physical shortcomings he may have versus competitors.  He wants to further his education and has the GPA to do so, but he’ll have to find a way to get there other than an athletic scholarship.  Junior Chavis Daniels returns to the team after more than a year in a youth penitentiary.  His anger issues threaten to be a problem for himself, his teammates, and the coaches.

UNDEFEATED follows the Tigers week by week as they make a push for the postseason, but the title does not refer to a lossless record--Manassas loses its first game--but a resilient squad.  In a refreshing break from the norm, the last game--the stereotypical big game--unfolds with the audience having a vested interest in the outcome yet with it ultimately being secondary to the relationships formed and life lessons learned.  The players and the coaches emerge from these months unbeaten by the setbacks and hardships they are dealt.  It’s about becoming a better person, not x’s and o’s or W’s and L’s.  

UNDEFEATED isn’t explicitly arguing for the necessity of competitive athletics at schools, even those with shrinking budgets, but it makes an effective case for how the character building that can come from playing sports is as valuable as anything in the curriculum.  Could a classroom teacher also occupy the crucial role that Courtney and his assistants fill in their players’ lives?  Certainly, although there’s a sense in the interactions here that sports and coaches have a way of getting through to them where regular instructors and courses cannot.  The reasons why aren’t fully articulated--Lindsay and Martin could stand to dig deeper with the players--but the results as presented are hard to deny.     

With a story that proves to be heartwarming and predictable, UNDEFEATED mostly plays according to the script familiar in its fiction and nonfiction counterparts. It does have the wisdom to dodge at least one problem inherent in the scenario, though. Typically a coach like Courtney would be viewed unquestioningly as a selfless man making a great sacrifice.  I’m not asserting otherwise or casting doubt on his intentions or achievements but pointing out that the person in this role is often held up as a saint. To his credit Courtney displays self-awareness of how his devotion to the football team means neglecting spending time with his wife and kids.  Like many of the details in UNDEFEATED, more examination would be welcome, but I appreciate that the sentiment is mentioned at all.

Race and class would seem to factor into much of what transpires, yet at best it is approached at arm’s length.  The potentially stickiest situation avoids the trap of hailing the white outsider showing the light to the black students.  Courtney is white and, by all appearances, economically comfortable while the inner city team looks to be entirely African-American and presumably disadvantaged.  The instance in which motives could be questioned--call it THE BLIND SIDE exception--doesn’t trigger any alarms.  

UNDEFEATED can be neat and tidy to a fault, but such quibbles seem minor when witnessing the positive example Courtney sets for his players and the affection they express for him.

Grade: B-

Big Fan

BIG FAN (Robert Siegel, 2009)

BIG FAN's Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) gets little joy out of life except for passionately following and cheering on his beloved New York Giants.  36-years-old and still living with his mother in her thin-walled home, Paul occupies a cramped bedroom that doubles as a cluttered shrine to his favorite football team.

Paul's occupation as a parking garage attendant offers him little respect from his customers and family.  It's hardly the most fulfilling employment.  Tuning in to the local sports talk radio station eases the isolating drudgery of his job.  Paul's not merely a listener, though.  During work he writes and rewrites his pro-Giants opinions.  Late at night he calls the station to deliver these monologues straight from his spiral-bound notebook.  As a frequent caller he's easily identifiable as Paul from Staten Island and has developed an arch-enemy in Eagles fan Philadelphia Phil (Michael Rapaport).

Paul shares his Giants fanaticism with his best (and only) friend Sal (Kevin Corrigan).  They aren't able to afford tickets to see the G-men on the gridiron, but they're serious enough about the team that they watch the televised home games from the stadium parking lot so they can soak up the atmosphere.

One night Paul and Sal spot five-time Pro Bowl defensive player and Giants star Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm) in their neck of the woods.  Seeing him turns them into giddy little boys, Paul especially.  Bishop is his favorite player.  A poster of Bishop adorns Paul's wall, and he owns an NFL replica jersey with the punishing defender's name and number.

Paul and Sal decide to follow Bishop around their neighborhood and eventually into a Manhattan strip club.  There they muster up the courage to approach the player and express that they are big fans, but the encounter takes an ugly turn when a misunderstanding leads to Bishop assaulting Paul and putting him in the hospital for several days.  Paul's family, his lawyer brother Jeff (Gino Cafarelli) in particular, want him to press charges, but a lawsuit is the last thing Paul wishes to file.  After all, the incident has resulted in Bishop's suspension on a game-by-game basis, which is hurting the Giants.

Fans are quick to condemn athletes who admit to steroid use or get into legal scrapes but are suddenly compassionate and willing to turn a blind eye when the offenders play for their teams.  When it comes to the squads they cheer for, even the most levelheaded sports fans can be irrational.  BIG FAN's Paul does not rank among those supporters with a healthy perspective.  As an obsessive fan, he's invested his identity and happiness in a professional football team.  He's willing to put his well-being in the short- and long-term on the line rather than risk depriving the Giants a key player during their playoff push.

To the regular person, especially a non-sports fan, this is madness.  Nevertheless, Paul's decision makes sense when filtered through Oswalt's uncompromising performance.  His hangdog expression and defeated posture improve when he's engaged in his single passion, even if it's just discussing football.  Paul's family thinks he is in a dead end job and has no personal life, and from what we see, they're right.  Paul is an unlikable character.  He tends to think he knows better than everyone about everything and exhibits little patience.  Yet he's a relatable character in that his love for the Giants allows him to blow off steam about all of his dissatisfaction with the life he has.  Paul's biggest dilemma isn't whether to help himself or not.  If sues Bishop for assault, he's hurting the team, but he's also hurting himself.  Paul may not feel like he wins on a day to day basis, but he can win by proxy if the Giants are victorious on Sunday afternoons.

Writer-director Robert Siegel nailed a lot of the details in his screenplay for THE WRESTLER, and with BIG FAN he proves equally astute at observing the behaviors and mindset of the fan who sees no distinction between himself and the team.  The film's version of a Jim Rome-like radio call-in show is hilariously spot-on, with stale put-downs elevated to the likes of poetry  Oswalt has the antsy, stilted nature of the regular caller down pat as he waits for his turn to deliver his sometimes awkward reading of prepared taunts and predictions.  It's funnier still when he tells his deeply impressed friend that he improvises it all.  Siegel understands the silly things fans will do, whether it's flipping off the radio when hearing a member of the opposition's provocations or tailgating outside the stadium of a game one doesn't have tickets for.

Catholic symbolism abounds in BIG FAN and for good reason.  For Paul, following his favorite team requires constant faith and devotion and takes on the air of religious study and ritual.  He is a true believer in his team, so a clash between his worldview and personal needs produces a genuine crisis of faith.  It may sound absurd for something as inconsequential as a sporting event to have such a profound affect on the character's outlook, but plenty of fan bases and cities draw self-image from the performance of their hometown heroes.


Grade: B-