Overall, a great film and a great story. Let's go ahead and get this out of the way. Everyone was right, that Nigerian accent...HORRIBLE...just horrible! However, it didn't completely take away from the film. In fact, I'd say it barely took away from the film. Otherwise, Will Smith did an excellent job portraying Dr. Bennet Omalu and is deserving of the Golden Globe nomination (if they are disregarding that accent).
But you know whose acting really stood out to me, the actors who played the football players suffering from CTE, the disease discovered by Dr. Bennet Omalu. Watching David Morse play Mike Webster was especially moving. The way he, Matthew Willig (as Justin Strzelczyk), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (as Dave Duerson), and Richard T. Jones (as Andre Waters) portrayed these players suffering with CTE really made the movie hit home. You could feel their angst from knowing they were losing control over their own mind with no possible cure, and worst yet, with the NFL continually telling them what they were suffering from didn't exist! Beyond that, we witnessed what CTE was causing them to do, like when Strzelczyk held his wife by the neck and in despair told her the voices were telling him to kill her. It is hard for me to imagine what it is like to be fully present and aware when your mind is turning on itself. It is one thing to lose control and not be aware of it, but to be actively aware and wanting to fight against it without the ability to do so...that is simply horrifying. And these actors brought that to life on the screen, forever changing what I thought I knew about what's been discovered in regards to long-term brain injury in football players. It brought forth a greater sense of both urgency and tragedy in what is CTE.
I also appreciated the way the film continually noted the beauty of the game. Though I'm not a huge football fan, I appreciated the fact that the film's purpose was not to bash football. Rather, it seemed to strike a balance in telling the story of the disease, the NFL's attempt to delegitimize the existence of the disease, while still embracing the game in a way. I also appreciated the decision to not go CSI on us, which they easily could have done given Dr. Omalu is a forensic pathologist who performs multiple autopsies during the film. It would have been unnecessary and a possible distraction.
And while I appreciate the story line depicting the relationship with his wife, Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), I wasn't impressed with the club scene and the scenes they shared immediately following. It seemed out of place and almost like a forced Hollywood narrative, but perhaps that's how it actually happened. Also, despite the fact that in reality she played an active role in his research by documenting his work during his examination of brain samples, it seemed the film relegated her to just moral support (though there was a scene where Dr. Omulu's supervisor briefly mentioned his co-worker knew she was going into the examination room with him). But overall, her presence was important to the film. She was his major support system, and her scenes magnified what all his family endured.
Overall, the film was very well done. And I would recommend it.