Concussion

1.

OPEN ON EXTENDED TITLES, A CUT ASSEMBLY OF HOME MOVIE AND TV

FOOTAGE:

1

1) Rhinelander High, Wisconsin. 1970. Rockwellian Americana:

football cheerleaders, full stands in tribal green & white,

convoys of yellow buses. Then-

2

2) A teenage MIKE WEBSTER playing for the Hodags. Biggest

thing on the field, an unstoppable machine. Now-

3

3) Mike has broken his arm, holds up his cast, big smile,

proud warrior. Then-

4

4) Mike is 22, wearing Pittsburgh Steelers practice uni,

first day in camp. Alone against the mountainous men, a

hazing. Infamous “nutcracker” drill - percussive hits like

car head-ons, gun-shots. Coaches screaming: “Who’s a man?!

Who’s tough?! Who’s gonna hit somebody!?”

5

5) Webster - now 27, thicker, less joyful - wins ABC Wide

World of Sports’ “Strongest Man in Football” contest. Then-

6

6) Footage of the interior game. Steelers vs. Somebody.

Webster vs. The World. Men as big as walls, and when Webster

hits his, shovel-sized hands clap his ear-holes. Lightning

bolts through his body, face in paralytic shock, and now-

7

7) Webster showers in post-game confetti winning his fourth

Super Bowl ring. Shoulder-presses the Vince Lombardi

championship trophy. His countenance primal. Now-

8

8) Back to that hit: Webster’s helmet knocked off, left arm

briefly hangs numb. Somebody’s screaming, “That’s it! Now

that’s how you gotta hit him!” And now-

9

9) A suddenly old-looking Webster roughing it through the

“nutcracker”. This time steamrolled by a new young Steelers’

bad-ass, bearded, mountain-sized. Then-

10

10) The hit again. Webster getting up slow. Through his haze,

hears:
“That’s it! Kill the head the body will die! KILL THE

HEAD THE BODY WILL DIE! Now run it again!” Now we find-

11

11) Webster after a game, older, wandering off the field. Now-

WEBSTER (OVER)

(intoning)

This Hall of Fame class of players

is a tremendous group. Tremendous

people. Not perfect people-

12) Webster is 45 but looks 60. Delivering his Hall of Fame

speech in Canton, OH--

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 2.

WEBSTER (CONT’D)

Not people who are pretentious or

whatever. Real people. And that’s

what the game of football is about.

And more manic, rambling scree. The game he loved. The owners

and coaches. CUTS to crowd - family, players - embarrassed,

wanting this to end.

Then it does. Titles end. Music ends. We cut to black, and-

MAN SINGING (PRE-LAP)

(Debarge’s ‘I like it’)

I've been thinkin'/'bout you for

quite a while/You're on my mind

everyday and every night/My every

thought is you, the things you

do/Seems so satisfying to me/I must

confess it, girl-

(voice big, melodic if not

great, continuing as we

come up to--)

13 EXT. PITTSBURGH - ESTABLISHING - DAYBREAK

The rust-belt wakes. Iron bridges like spokes of a wheel.

Wrecked fallow mills, reclaimed by nature. The massive brand-

new grounded UFO that is Heinz Field, where the Steelers

play. The converging three rivers aflame all the way to the

picket fence of Allegheny Mountains beyond.

TITLE:
SEPTEMBER, 2002

MAN SINGING (OVER)

Ooh...and I like it/You send chills

up my spine every time/I take a

look at you/Ooh...and I like it-

(now we go into--)

14 INT./EXT. BENNET’S CAR (MOVING)/PITTSBURGH

A blue Mercedes E320 sedan and find BENNET OMALU, 35,

shamelessly and sweetly singing.

BENNET:

I like the way you comb your

hair/And I like those stylish

clothes you wear/It's just the

little things you do/That show how

much you really care-

(singing his way through-)

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 3.

The Hill (ramshackle ghetto). Then Shadyside (leafy wealth).

Then the Strip (industrial hipsterville)--

BENNET (CONT’D)

Like when I'm all alone with you

You know exactly what to do-

Over a span of iron into a downtown of metal and glass-

BENNET (CONT’D)

Ooh... and I like it/You send

chills up my spine every time/I

take a look at you/Ooh... and I

like it/Ooh... and I like it-

(and--)

15 EXT. ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - PITTSBURGH

Bennet pulls up beside his car’s silver twin. Same make and

model. In the shadow of a Victorian stone monolith chalked by

steel-mill soot. Itself in the shadow of a cloverleaf of

humming freeway. And Bennet gets out. And we see-

He’s incongruously - exquisitely - dressed. Tailored suit.

Crisp shirt. Expensive tie (Presidential knot). Down a ramp

into a gaping basement, receding down a dark tunnel, we-

HEAR - IN PRE-LAP - PEOPLE SINGING (badly) “HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

Happy birthday to you--”

16 INT. ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - PITTSBURGH - MORNING

Four TECHNICIANS celebrating a heavyset man's 50th. Cupcake

scrawled, “Happy Birthday Joe!” Balloon bouquet, a candle.

The break room. With a window letting out on the slabs. Where

a shitbox TV plays Wheel of Fortune.

We’re in the POV of someone watching. The figure coming into

focus in f.g., quarantined, isolated-

It’s Bennet. Standing - in scrubs now. Watching the others’

lips moving, laughing. Now grabbing portable CD player, and

back to-

BENNET:

(pausing at the party)

Gracie, may we begin, please?

(and turns into--)

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 4.

INT. AUTOPSY CHAMBER - MORNING

Soaring tiled chapel-like chamber, floors sloped toward

drains. Three steel slabs with fresh corpses in various

states of disrepair, four more in bags against the walls.

While in the b.g., DR. CYRIL WECHT, 60’s, in scrubs, steps

back from a slab to let a TECH finish up. Bennet and Wecht

meet in the middle of the room--

BENNET:

Good morning, Cyril-

As Wecht pats Bennet on the shoulder, moves to table to fill

out forms. Bennet checks the clipboard-

BENNET (CONT’D)

(checking the clipboard)

Rachel Green first, please.

GRACIE - early 20’s, blue ribbon (matching her uniform)

twisted through her hair - goes to what was a pretty WOMAN,

like her, early 20’s. Still dressed for last night’s party.

GRACIE:

Full or partial, Dr. Omalu?

Bennet reviewing the girl’s file. Police report. Holding up

her driver’s license. Roots around in her purse.

In b.g., prepping his own table, is DANIEL SULLIVAN, 50.

Chief Pathology Supervisor. Bald, dark pouches under his

eyes. Steelers stuff under lab gear. Countenance of an ill-

humored butcher.

SULLIVAN:

Open-shut O.D.-suicide. Full room

today. We need to cycle them

through.

Bennet, moving slow, ignoring him, over the girl’s face, as

if listening.

BENNET:

I need your help, Rachel. We’re in

this together. Tell me what

happened to you.

And a hand on the body’s forehead, another over the heart. He

opens her eyes. Stares into them. Connection.

SULLIVAN:

Oh here we go.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 4A.

WECHT:

Danny, c’mon. Let him do this

thing. I hired him for a reason.

(to Bennet)

I need to talk to you. Come see me

in my office when you’re done-

BENNET:

Full autopsy. We’ll need the tissue

dissection station.

Sullivan stops. Glares from his table. As a TRAINEE TECH, 25,

rolls a trolley over.

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