CONCUSSION (Rated PG-13)

A movie about an immigrant doctor’s discovery of the connection between American football and the severe neurological problems brought on by repetitive head trauma is not exactly cheerful holiday fare.

But, at least, “Concussion” allows the deft portrayal by Will Smith of the reluctant, nuanced medical crusader Dr. Bennet Omalu, who believed so passionately that his breakthrough in the field of forensic pathology could save lives of football players.

It must be granted that “Concussion,” however, has the fortuitous good timing of landing in theaters just in time for the nearly endless parade of college football bowl games and the upcoming NFL playoffs.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is probably not too thrilled with Hollywood’s treatment of this serious issue, considering for one thing that the direction of “Concussion” is in the hands of investigate journalist Peter Landesman, doing double duty as the film’s writer.

Additionally, Goodell may be equally displeased to be portrayed on film by Luke Wilson, whose screen time, though limited, generates no real emotional impact other being another proverbial corporate honcho of dubious moral character.

“Concussion” has an important story to tell for the simple reason that the issue of the health risks to pro players has been percolating in recent years. Will Smith, coming across with naïve yet principled conviction, is the right fit to infuse Dr. Omalu with credibility.

By all indications, Dr. Omalu is a highly educated forensic pathologist from Nigeria who seems overly qualified to be working in the Pittsburgh morgue for the Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks).

Possessed of idiosyncratic tendencies, Dr. Omalu is perceived to be somewhat eccentric by his fellow medical colleagues as he talks to the cadavers while conducting autopsies. His stated reason for this behavior is to intuit the truth of a person’s demise.

Conducting his medical examination on retired Pittsburgh Steelers star center and local sports hero Mike Webster (David Morse), Dr. Omalu reportedly discovers a football-related brain trauma disorder that he names Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Granted that I am no medical expert, but it seems to me that awareness of repeated blows to the head have been known for some time to cause permanent damage, both mental and physical, to professional boxers, and by extension to any sport involving physical contact above the neck. 

The story of Mike Webster takes on special meaning in a community like Pittsburgh where the Steelers are widely revered. Dr. Wecht observes to his Nigerian pathologist that the NFL has claimed Sunday as the day of the week that it owns, thereby upping the stakes to any challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of football supremacy.

Then, it comes as no surprise that Dr. Omalu’s research into game-related brain injuries was certain to stir passions on both sides of the issue, with certain interests trying desperately to discredit the pathologist’s clinical studies.

That Mike Webster, known as “Iron Mike,” who died of an alleged heart attack at age 50, had suffered from severe dementia and was living in his pickup truck at the time of death proved to be merely the beginning of medical fascination to Dr. Omalu.

Other famous cases of CTE include Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Andre Waters and Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson. The characterization of the latter in this film has drawn fire from family members.

Aside from support from the Coroner, Dr. Omalu had few allies in his quest to bring his research into the public light. Alec Baldwin’s Dr. Julian Bailes, a former team physician for the Steelers, joined the cause after realizing the risks to players formerly in his care.

Playing his role with quiet intensity, Will Smith’s Dr. Omalu may be unorthodox in his approach to medical science but his quest for truth is a matter of personal ethics and professional duty.

“Concussion” works best when the focus is on the doctor’s good works and his interaction with medical colleagues, whether they are hostile or favorable to his efforts.

The film gets bogged down a bit in his personal life story, one that lacks much excitement until his church persuades him to provide temporary shelter to new Nigerian immigrant Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who later becomes his wife.

Not that going up against the powers that be in the NFL is any easy task worthy of focused attention, but the story veers off into a subplot of intrigue in which on one occasion Prema finds that she is being followed ominously on back roads. Moreover, Dr. Wecht gets arrested by federal agents on what looks like retaliation.

In the end, Will Smith stands out in a cast with many excellent performances, but “Concussion” leaves the impression that the conflict with the NFL could have been even more pronounced than as it is portrayed.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

Here’s a New Year’s poem by Judy Ray, who lives and writes in Tucson.

I like the way that common phrase, “the turning of a year,” has suggested to her the turns in a race track.

Her most recent book is To Fly Without Wings, (Helicon Nine Editions, 2009).

Turning of the Year

We never know if the turn
is into the home stretch.
We call it that—a stretch
of place and time—
with vision of straining,
racing.  We acknowledge
each turn with cheers
though we don’t know
how many laps remain.
But we can hope the course
leads on far and clear
while the horses have strength
and balance on their lean legs,
fine-tuned muscles, desire
for the length of the run.
Some may find the year smooth,
others stumble at obstacles
along the way.  We never know
if the finish line will be reached
after faltering, slowing,
or in mid-stride, leaping forward.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright ©2012 by Judy Ray, “Turning of the Year,” from The Whirlybird Anthology of Kansas City Writers, (Whirlybird Press, 2012). Poem reprinted by permission of Judy Ray and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

The only times I feel truly homicidal are when I see somebody abusing a pet, and I was glad to find this poem so I could get that off my chest.

But don’t ever even think about taking a kick at my old dog, Howard.

Wesley McNair lives in Maine and is that state’s poet laureate. This is from his book Lovers of the Lost, from David R. Godine. His most recent book is The Lost Child: Ozark Poems, (Godine, 2014).

The Puppy

From down the road, starting up
and stopping once more, the sound
of a puppy on a chain who has not yet
discovered he will spend his life there.
Foolish dog, to forget where he is
and wander until he feels the collar
close fast around his throat, then cry
all over again about the little space
in which he finds himself. Soon,
when there is no grass left in it
and he understands it is all he has,
he will snarl and bark whenever
he senses a threat to it.
Who would believe this small
sorrow could lead to such fury
no one would ever come near him?

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright ©2010 by Wesley McNair, “The Puppy,” from Lovers of the Lost: New & Selected Poems, (David R. Godine, 2010). Poem reprinted by permission of Wesley McNair and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The first of a four-part contemporary chamber music series produced by Beth Aiken and Jeff Ives takes place on Sunday, Jan. 10, at 3 p.m.

January's program features mezzo-soprano Heather McFadden and tenor Nick Reid performing songs by Johannes Brahms, Frank Bridge and Ralph Vaughan Williams for oboe and tenor, as well as a Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata for solo voices.

The series is presented under the auspices of the Soper Reese Theatre. All seats are reserved.

Tickets are $20 and $15. Children 18 and under are free.

Three more concerts follow on the second Sunday in February, March and April.

On Feb. 10 Bay Area harp group, Triskela, and Mendocino County’s Panamericana present a classical Latin program.

On March 13 a string quintet performs Schubert and Onslow, and the season ends on April 10 with SquarPeg, a group that brings a 21st century perspective to classical chamber music.

Season tickets are now on sale and include the January concert.

The four-concert package is priced at $70 and $50.

Go to www.SoperReeseTheatre.com to purchase individual or season tickets.  Tickets also are available at the Theatre Box Office, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or at The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

DADDY’S HOME (Rated PG-13)

There are two things to know about the comedic reunion in “Daddy’s Home” of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, once again polar opposites that previously carried the day when they were mismatched detectives in “The Other Guys.”

First, the slapstick humor is crude and raunchy often enough to be extremely questionable family-oriented entertainment.

That’s why it seemed surprising that the screening was set up so that critics could bring along younger kids.

Second, this is type of film that one must grant is sufficiently predictable in many ways and yet leads to some dumb fun, which many critics are going to dislike.

Perhaps they were duped into bringing their grade school children to the screening and now seek payback with bad reviews.

For the rest of us, the overriding consideration is whether “Daddy’s Home” might provide enough laughter so that our concern about a PG-13 rating is mitigated by having the good sense not to take young kids to this kind of movie in the first place.

It’s good to see Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg back together on screen, this time around as parental rivals vying for the affection of grade school kids who need the nurturing of the stepdad but yearn for the reckless fun times with their cool biological father.

In familiar typecasting, Ferrell’s Brad Whitaker, the sensitive beta male, is now married to Sara (Linda Cardellini), the mother of Dylan (Owen Vaccaro) and Megan (Scarlett Estevez).

Brad is an executive at the Panda, a smooth jazz radio station rated the third most popular in the nation, where his boss Leo Holt (Thomas Haden Church) is fond of giving marital advice while telling absurd stories about his many failed marriages.

Driving a sensible Ford Flex family car, Brad wants to be a model stepfather, often reading from the self-help book “Step by Stepdad” and trying hard to win over bratty kids that have been drawing crayon pictures of the nuclear family with Brad depicted in various stages of distress.

Along comes Mark Wahlberg’s Dusty Mayron, the ultra smooth alpha male father who rides a Harley, wears cowboy boots and often takes off his shirt to expose a well-sculpted muscular torso, thereby revealing a true contrast to Brad’s basic nice guy timidity and flabby physique.

That Brad is essentially insecure and unsure of himself may have a lot to do with his inability to procreate. A flashback shows that Brad suffered a blow to his manhood as the result of an accident with an errant dental x-ray machine.

Having returned to the family scene with macho swagger, Dusty senses an emerging chasm in the household that he may exploit in order to reclaim his patriarchal role.

It’s not without irony that Dusty enjoys telling bedtime stories to his little tykes about the noble king being the superior person in returning to the castle to protect the kingdom where the step king has failed.

At first, Brad is seemingly seduced by Dusty’s self-assured charm offensive, trying a bit too hard to be his friend even though Sara has knowingly warned that her ex-husband is potential trouble.

Trouble arrives quickly in the guise of very competitive games to win the hearts and minds of the young children for the title of the finest dad, with Brad constantly one-upped by the cunning, persuasive Dusty.

The competition goes from the ridiculous to the sublime, and along the way Dusty manages to turn others against Brad, even convincing African-American handyman Griff (Hannibal Buress) that Brad is a racist.

Dusty does not confine his damage to the Whitaker household. On a visit to Brad’s radio station, he lucks into a chance to become the on-air voice of the station’s identity, thereby securing a handsome residual income.

The outlandish competition goes to extremes. Dusty builds an awesome tree house fit for an entire family, while Brad stages a full-blown Christmas celebration with expensive gifts during the summer.

Some of the humor is a bit cringe-worthy such as the visit to a fertility doctor where Brad and Dusty are reduced to the primitive state of exposing their manhood for the sake of medical examination.

Sexual innuendos, questionable at best for a younger audience, aren’t confined to clinical assessment. This and other forms of more adult-oriented humor are just part of the territorial contest between the father figures.

“Daddy’s Home” is filled with plenty of goofy antics, which are not only downright conventional and predicable, but on the whole prove to be quite funny.     
 
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Rated PG-13)

The hype for the major film of the holiday season has been colossal, but it has proven authentic.

Yes, I’m talking about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which is the real deal after the regret of the remarkably dull trilogy of prequels that fans had to endure to get to Episode VII.

In the capable hands of director J.J. Abrams (two “Star Trek” films), the feeling that we are back on track for the tone, style and even humor of the original “Star Wars” is unmistakable, and obviously a welcome relief to the misfires that George Lucas foisted on us with “The Phantom Menace” and the two episodes that followed.

The “Star Wars” franchise is now in the hands of the Disney Empire. Good news for all, it’s not an evil empire. Evidence abounds that the new home for this beloved franchise (okay, just the first three films) has treated this new adventure with great respect and reverence.

Right from the very opening scene of the screen crawl that informs us that Luke Skywalker has gone missing somewhere in the galaxy, the audience is propelled into a state of wonder and absolute delight within the vastly exhilarating realm of the “Star Wars” universe.

Darth Vader may no longer be around, but his progeny are in full villainous mode in the oppressive force called by the totalitarian name of First Order, commanded by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) under the tutelage of hulking Supreme Leader Snoke (voiced by Andy Serkis).

Landing on the desolate planet of Jakku, the First Order descends on the unsuspecting inhabitants, setting loose the army of stormtroopers to exterminate everyone while searching for a piece of a digital map that may reveal the hideaway of Luke Skywalker.

It’s on Jakku that we are introduced to several new key players, all of whom prove to be valuable assets to the series. Giving C-3PO and R2-D2 a run for their money is the new adorably rotund robot BB-8, an essential figure in helping the Resistance fend off the First Order goons.

Up until the attack on Jakku, the clever BB-8 had been the constant companion of fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), the best commander in the Resistance fleet. The charismatic Poe is a prime figure in later battle scenes that have a superbly familiar yet welcome feeling.

Probably the most inviting new character is Daisy Ridley’s Rey, an outcast loner and scavenger on Jakku, who’s barely scraping by selling spare parts taken from abandoned spacecraft and other equipment. But she’s drawn into the Resistance from a most unlikely source.

During the raid on Jakku, a stormtrooper who only goes by a serial number develops a conscience and becomes appalled at having to kill innocents. Later taking the name of Finn (John Boyega), this former member of the First Order joins forces with Rey for pure survival.

More resourceful than her scavenging skills would suggest, Rey proves to be an adept female hero and a true fighter, and along with Finn’s brave new outlook, this dynamic duo eventually gets noticed by Harrison Ford’s iconic Han Solo.

By the time Han Solo makes his entrance, teamed up as usual with his co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), the massively hairy creature that delights with his quirky behavior, the story line is moving into full battle conflict mode between the heroic Resistance fighters and the First Order goons.

There are hardly more satisfying moments than when Han Solo joyfully brings the Millennium Falcon, derisively called a heap of junk by others, out of mothballs and gets it going once again to travel through the galaxy.

Han Solo may be the most beloved character for his nicely offbeat nature, being characteristically grumpy and irreverent, while tossing off sarcastic barbs. It’s also funny when rival bounty hunters show up to threaten his life for failure to deliver promised goods.

Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is also in the picture, but she’s ditched her royal title and the hair buns to become General Leia, head of the Resistance. But what she really needs is a Jedi Knight, and well, Luke Skywalker is the one who can harness the power of the Force.

Without giving too much away, the quest to find Skywalker is the primary reason for an escalating fight between the Resistance and the First Order. The bad guys know Skywalker could train legions of brave souls to turn back the predatory Evil Empire.

Certain things happen in the course of “Star Wars” that no one should know when experiencing this Episode VII for the first time. Disney pleaded with critics not to reveal too much, and that request is honored here.

Suffice it to say, for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” the title says it all. Indeed, the Force is now awake and alive, and it is something to be reckoned with. From start to finish, the whole enterprise is a glorious adventure, one that lets us forget if not forgive the George Lucas mistakes of the past.

This shiny new “Star Wars” easily ranks with the best movies of the year, and without question, it is the best one for this holiday season.

At least two more installments are in the works, and let’s hope the Force is with the creative talent putting them together.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.