Football is extremely important to many (or most, or all) Americans. That would be an understatement, since football is a national obsession that can reach the level of mania at times. Football is close to a religion for some people. You don’t mess with football, but that is what Will Smith’s new film, Concussion, does. It tells the true story of a Nigerian doctor who has an extremely rigorous and conscientious approach to his work performing autopsies in the Pittsburgh coroner’s office. He supervised over the deaths of Mike Webster, Terry Long, Justin Strzelczyk, Andre Waters and Dave Duerson, who all died before the ages of 51. These autopsies were instrumental in uncovering the connection to a disease that had been associated with boxers, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The connection with boxing was never made by the National Football League until Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith, starts going to extraordinary lengths to investigate. Numerous lawsuits have occurred since 2008 when Omalu began this work showing that the NFL had covered up their knowledge of this issue. The main outcomes many players suffer are dementia, depression, and suicide. His one early ally is his boss, Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD (Albert Brooks). Wecht supports Omalu despite growing opposition and expensive testing. The testing initially exceeds $20,000. Omalu pays for the tests out of his own pocket, because he is driven by a search for the truth despite the growing obstacles he faces. The opposition starts to rise to levels of potential death threats and pressure from all sorts of law enforcement agencies including the FBI to stop the testing. Corruption in the NFL is evident in their use of the name of football to exert influence on everyone and anyone to protect the sanctity of the game. The movie starts to play out like a medical thriller, but this is a true story.

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Eddie Marsan (Ray Donavan), Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket), Mike O’Malley (Yes, Dear), and Paul Reiser (Mad About You) all play doctors on the various sides of this issue. There is a change in regime in the NFL when Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) comes in as the investigation starts to pick up traction.

Joy is the name of a person, not a state of mind. Joy Mangano is apparently not an easy person to know, but she did submit to a long series of conversations with brilliant writer/director David O. Russell. I say David is brilliant because he is, to me, the single most indispensable artist working today. He is able to do things that no one else can do. He makes comedies, but only in the broadest sense of the word. He takes a subject that may seem insignificant and puts it through a mad process like Dr. Frankenstein until something magnificent comes out. The process seems like a whirlwind for whoever is caught up in it. Joy is a movie that blew me away, and that was after having been blown away by almost all of his films, but especially Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, and American Hustle. The actors always seem to be doing their best work when he works with them. Jennifer Lawrence says she hopes she always works for him and has already won a supporting actress Oscar working for David. Jennifer is the center, driving force and titular character this time out. She is playing an inspiration of a real person, but not a real person, because that’s what David wanted.

Joy is like the Citizen Kane of women’s movies. It portrays that person who is a mother and a daughter and wage earner and all-around fixer of every problem. She is always open to fixing problems and compromising to make things work. She keeps going no matter how overwhelming the struggle she faces becomes. She is tireless and forgiving and hopeful, but what she is above everything else is a person with brain like a sponge. Joy Mangano in real life invented the Miracle Mop along with a hundred other patents. Joy also thoroughly understood everything about a mop, because she used it every day. She found success on QVC and later HSN, but this process is harrowing and somewhat dizzying. The film is framed with soap opera segments featuring the legendary Susan Lucci as a device to comment on the somewhat unreal life of any woman and especially Joy. There is an inherent instability in Joy’s life that is illustrated by the fact that her father and ex-husband are both forced to move into the somewhat run-down house. Joy is the one who usually has to do the plumbing. This household includes her mother, grandmother, and two young kids.