Will Smith arrives on stage to present the Outstanding Motion Picture Award at the 46th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California February 6, 2015. (Photo : Reuters/Danny Moloshok)
"Focus" actor Will Smith stars as the doctor who discovers the link between dementia and football injuries in "Concussion" which critiques say will raise some red flags with the National Football League (NFL).
The film which is the latest offering by Smith in its recently released trailer paints the organization in an unsavoury light, according to the Guardian.
The film is directed by Peter Landesman of "Parkland" fame and centers around the true -to-life events and findings of Dr. Bennet Omalu a forensic pathologist from Nigeria, played by Smith, who discovers a particular condition in American football players called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
According to the trailer, Smith's character of Dr. Omalu discovers a co-relation between players who have sustained blows to the head and CTE. He discovers the link after performing an autopsy on football player Mike Webster who is played in the film by David Morse.
Owing to Dr. Omalu's findings players who have endured repeated trauma to the head have since been found to suffer from the same degenerative brain condition.
In the trailer the "Suicide Squad" star's portrayal of Dr. Omalu with his heavy Nigerian accent is spot on and his seamless role as an against-the-wall crusader seems promising with critiques saying his performance might even call for an Oscar nomination, according to Vox.
The Hollywood star earned such a nomination in 2001 when he donned boxing trunks to portray the tumultuous life of boxing legend Muhammad Ali in the biopic by Michael Mann, titled "Ali."
The trailer of Smith's latest offering is reminiscent of "The Insider" another film by Mann which traces Jeffrey Wigand's battle with the tobacco industry, similar plotlines seem to be drawn in "Concussion."
The movie is set to open in the United States on Christmas Day, just in time for the NFL playoffs.
