Friday, December 25, 2015

Concussion (2015)

The sickening crunch of football players crashing against each other, helmet to helmet, echoes through “Concussion” like an alarm. There’s another appalling sound here, too, created by the collision of corporate avarice — in the blurred form of the National Football League — and a doctor fighting a righteous fight.

NY Times Review (12/25/2015, Manohla Dargis)

A good review of CTE on Wikipedia.

Dr. Bennet Omalu
12/25/15: I just saw Concussion.  A truly amazing film.  The hero is Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian neuro- and forensic pathologist, who had the courage to follow up on his unpopular findings.  Will Smith and Alec Baldwin are powerful and amazing in their roles.  This film is a great introduction to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and it won’t be just football.  Concussion addresses an unfortunate truth.  It’s great to see a film where a pathologist, especially a forensic pathologist is the hero.  DJE

Reference: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a National Football League player. Omalu BI, DeKosky ST, Minster RL, Kamboh MI, Hamilton RL, Wecht CH. Neurosurgery. 2005 Jul;57(1):128-34; discussion 128-34. Abstract.  (This is where it all began!)

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