"Concussion" movie sparks conversation about head injuries and long-term effects on athletes

MILWAUKEE -- A movie about head injuries and their long-term effect on athletes is opening in theaters on Christmas Day. Some are hoping it pushes society as a whole to talk about the issue.

Football may be America's favorite sport, but a new movie may have some re-thinking how they view the game.

Hitting the big screen this Christmas Day: "Concussion." Starring Will Smith, it's a film about head injuries in football and a doctor who tried to sound the alarm about the risks of long term brain damage in players.

FOX6 News spoke with "Concussion" movie goers on their way to see the Friday morning.

"Will Smith was being interviewed along with a doctor and they said the movie was very factual, so I thought I'd go see it," Wolfgang Rosenau, viewing "Concussion."

Some are hoping the movie helps spark a larger conversation about head injuries and their long-term effects on athletes.

"Even the little football leagues the damage can be caused there. I think that's something that parents should be aware of and know what they're exposing their children to," said Rosenau.

Some scientists are cautioning that more research needs to be done on the topic, and say parents of players should keep the movie's message in perspective.

"Understand A: it's a movie and B: it's that again they're talking about some small laboratory findings that haven't been shown to be prevalent in large numbers of athletes," said Timothy McGuine, senior scientist sports medicine program at the Univeristy of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

If you would like to know more about concussions and their risks to athletes -- CLICK HERE.

To learn more about the film "Concussion" from the American Academy of Pediatrics, CLICK HERE.