Concussion
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
18
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattDec 17, 2015
Director Peter Landesman, who also helmed last year’s political thriller "Kill the Messenger", doesn’t color much outside the lines of conventional drama. But his straightforward telling actually serves the strong cast and taut script — and a story that would be deemed too outrageous to believe if it wasn’t true. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsAllen SalkinDec 23, 2015
Yes, this important film will deepen a debate about the game's safety. And, yes, it makes the National Football League look like a tobacco company run by the Nixon administration. But immigration is the ultimate political football right now — and when I left the theater, it was with a renewed sense of what one dignified man can achieve when given a chance in a great nation. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 2, 2016
Will Smith gives his all in a role that requires him to undergo a subtle physical transformation, adopt a credible Nigerian accent, and provide a controlled, modulated performance. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJan 2, 2016
Smith dominates the film. He captures the upright stance, slightly stiff movements and lilting accent of a highly educated African who realizes he doesn’t understand America, and America doesn’t understand him. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 24, 2015
Concussion is essentially Erin Brockovich with shoulder pads, a crowd pleaser built upon an issue long ignored. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleDec 24, 2015
Director/screenwriter Peter Landesman builds a solid dramatic story around this premise, and Smith delivers a terrific, award-worthy performance as Omalu, nailing his Nigerian accent, his intelligence, his determination to do what he knows is right. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 23, 2015
Writer-director Peter Landesman has a fascinating and appalling story to tell here, and that cuts through the layers of corniness. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyDec 23, 2015
Will Smith’s performance as Omalu is lovely: small-scaled, precise, imbued with righteousness but not tritely pious. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 14, 2015
Concussion is a good movie that could have been great without trying so hard to be great. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 11, 2015
Landesman’s film may not be scintillating drama, but it aches with muted anger, and his cast makes sure to keep the proceedings at a consistent simmering boil. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberNov 11, 2015
This film is vital in uncovering a hazard that was kept hidden for far too long. At last the secret is out, and Landesman and his fine cast will help to keep the conversation going. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJan 7, 2016
The movie murmurs, when it — and others — should be shouting. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerDec 25, 2015
For all the talk of Smith’s strong performance, one wonders if the subject matter couldn’t have been tackled with less sentimentality and heartfelt biography. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryDec 24, 2015
As Omalu, Smith gives an emotional performance, bolstered by capable supporting players. Albert Brooks is especially good as Omalu’s wry boss and chief advocate, Cyril Wecht, lightening the film’s otherwise gloomy mood. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 24, 2015
I wish the movie were so good that I could say you have to see it; while Smith’s performance takes on a life of its own, the movie seems locked to its talking points. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittDec 23, 2015
The cast is a stellar one, especially Smith. Not only does he capture Omalu’s Nigerian accent and mannerisms but also the character's idiosyncrasies. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithDec 22, 2015
The film is sober, honest and serious about an important subject. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 22, 2015
The film is on shaky ground as it veers into persecution and some paranoid “Silkwood” touches. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 22, 2015
The film goes slack when its screws most need to tighten. Luckily, Smith — flawless in accent and commitment to Omalu's worthy cause — grips you from first to last. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 24, 2015
Smith’s performance, in which he resists the urge to go over the top, and the subject matter make Concussion an interesting movie, but not the urgent one it could have been. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 23, 2015
Concussion is at its best when it's digging into the science of Omalu's work, chronicling his discovery and his subsequent David-vs.-Goliath fight to get people to acknowledge that he was right. Less effective is the portrayal of the personal toll his fight cost him. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 22, 2015
Concussion could have used the political backbone of Smith’s Ali director Michael Mann; instead, it has Peter Landesman, who steers both lead actor and screenplay away from the sharper edges. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 24, 2015
If Concussion really stuck its neck out, it would have been the better for it. The film comes on as hard-hitting, but it’s weighted down with protective gear. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 16, 2015
Smith’s Omalu makes a compelling character, supported by his mentor Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) and former team doctor Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin). But Concussion doesn’t crackle like the best whistleblower dramas. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 20, 2016
There’s a lot of good stuff here, but the movie often seems more interested in ennobling rather than dramatizing. Read full review
50
ScreenCrushMatt SingerDec 30, 2015
It’s the very definition of a film with its heart in the right place. And also a prime example of how good intentions don’t automatically make great movies. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 25, 2015
While Concussion has some fine things going for it, notably science and Will Smith, it lacks the exciting, committed filmmaking that rises to the level of its outrageous topic. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 24, 2015
The key problem is that writer-director Peter Landesman has pushed too hard to make this story fit into a dramatic mold, alternating melodrama and romance with those earnest warnings in a way that is more ungainly than effective. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 23, 2015
The great strength of Concussion is its star’s performance. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiDec 23, 2015
If Concussion had focused on Omalu’s tireless efforts to expose CTE to the world, it would have been a powerful film. As it stands, it’s just second-string. Read full review
50
The VergeBryan BishopDec 22, 2015
Concussion may start off as a stirring conspiracy thriller with the best performance from Will Smith in years, but it's hard to care when it's wrapped in a two-hour after school special. Read full review
50
Village VoiceScott TobiasDec 22, 2015
Concussion isn't much of a movie, but it's a fascinating bellwether for where the National Football League currently stands on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease associated with many of its former players. Read full review
50
The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinNov 11, 2015
A lack of pace and illuminating insight are what keep Concussion from lasting resonance, its flaws threatening to dull the issue for drama in a way that the NFL could only appreciate. Read full review
50
VarietyAndrew BarkerNov 11, 2015
Effective enough as a cautionary tale about willful ignorance and as a showcase for Will Smith...the film is let down by its confused and cliche-riddled screenplay, which struggles mightily to take a complex story and finesse it to fit story beats it was never meant to hit. Read full review
40
EmpireDan JolinFeb 10, 2016
Writer/director Peter Landesman has turned out a film that nonetheless remains desperately conventional and never communicates that sense of inspiration. Read full review
40
The GuardianNigel M SmithNov 13, 2015
A harrowing subject for a film, then, but somehow Landesman – who also wrote the screenplay – never manages to turn it into a gripping movie. Read full review
40
TheWrapInkoo KangNov 11, 2015
Timely but dreary and dramatically inept. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezNov 12, 2015
The tacky and loose means by which the platitudinous screenplay dances around what ails the story's football players is just one cog in a whirligig of pat representations. Read full review
33
ConsequenceJustin GerberDec 21, 2015
Concussion tries to “tell the truth!” but its filmmaker feels compelled to surround the truth with tales of a man whose life is just not that interesting. Read full review
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