Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 01/25/2005
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: HBO Home Video
The true story of two medical pioneers -- one celebrated, one overlooked -- is brought to life in this made-for-cable
drama.
Alfred Blalock (
Alan Rickman) is chief surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, where he is pioneering new techniques in heart surgery.
Blalock makes the acquaintance of
Vivien Thomas (
Mos Def), a carpenter hired to work at the University, and to his surprise discovers a man of keen intelligence who has a great interest in medicine. However, as a poor black man in the Jim Crow South,
Thomas lacks the financial resources to obtain a medical degree, though he certainly has the knowledge and the desire.
Blalock takes
Thomas on as his lab assistant, and together they develop a technique that allows them to correct a common congenital heart defect in children. However, while they work side by side in the lab and in the operating room,
Blalock and
Thomas do not walk the same paths in society, and
Thomas develops a deep resentment that he has been given little credit for his contribution to a medical innovation that makes
Blalock famous. Produced for the premium cable network
HBO,
Something the Lord Made also features
Gabrielle Union,
Mary Stuart Masterson, and
Charles S. Dutton.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
