Something The Lord Made
A breakthrough that changed the face of medicine. A partnership that broke the rules.
Something the Lord Made tells the emotional true story of two men who defied the rules of their time to launch a medical revolution, set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South. Working in 1940s Baltimore on an unprecedented technique for performing heart surgery on "blue babies," Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and lab technician Vivien Thomas (Mos Def, The Italian Job) form an impressive team. But even as they race against time to save a dying baby, to two occupy very different places in society. Blalock is the wealthy white Head of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital; Thomas is black and poor, a skilled carpenter. As Blalock and Thomas invent a new field of medicine, saving thousands of lives in the process, social pressures threaten to undermine their collaboration and tear their friendship apart.
Member Reviews
Something the Lord Made - Eklektik67
Very Good film about the beginnings of heart surgery that is set in the Jim Crow days in the south and then at Johns Hopkins which continued these rules also. Mos Def was great as Vivien Thomas as a brilliant man who becomes a lab assistant to a famous Dr. played by Alan Rickman and together they find a cure for "Blue Babies" through surgery and the beginning of other forms of heart surgery that we still use.
I found the waste of talent and intelligence hard to watch even now because of race in this case and also sex.
Thomas's recognition at the end was great, but the fact that he couldn't go or afford to go to medical school angered me and one wonders how many other people of colour could have made amazing contributions on many areas who were denied.
In my own family, my cousin couldn't get a Business degree because of quotas on Jews (he became and CPA instead) and a friend of the family who couldn't go to medical school around the same time as the movie in this country also because of quotas for Jews. He became one of the founders of Shoppers Drug Mart but always had regrets about medical school despite the $ he made.
A film very worth watching on many levels!Something The Lord Made - R_A-
A bit of medical history in a very well acted movie that demands your attention and respect. The period begins in the 1940's and traverses decades of world renowned medical accomplishments that travelled the world. This movie based on a true story is indeed very entertaining and enlightening. It is based on a marvel of medicine by two true medical scientists, one a Doctor and the other his assistant. Relax, be entertained and informed. It gives hope to pioneers from any walk of life.2 Brains with Heart Create the Field of Cardiac Surgery - Liffey
A great story about 2 men that work together to challenge a longstanding belief -- now myth -- that you simply can't operate on the human heart.
Great performances, particularly by Mos Def as Vivian Thomas, by this cast. These men broke new medical ground with operating on the heart. Too bad Dr. Blalock didn't break equally important ground of sharing the deserved recognition with his partner, not assistant, Thomas.
Nonetheless a super story about 2 human beings that contributed a great deal! Highly recommended.
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Something the Lord Made - Eklektik67
Very Good film about the beginnings of heart surgery that is set in the Jim Crow days in the south and then at Johns Hopkins which continued these rules also. Mos Def was great as Vivien Thomas as a brilliant man who becomes a lab assistant to a famous Dr. ...Something The Lord Made - R_A-
A bit of medical history in a very well acted movie that demands your attention and respect. The period begins in the 1940's and traverses decades of world renowned medical accomplishments that travelled the world. This movie based on a true story is indeed ...2 Brains with Heart Create the Field of Cardiac Surgery - Liffey
A great story about 2 men that work together to challenge a longstanding belief -- now myth -- that you simply can't operate on the human heart.
Great performances, particularly by Mos Def as Vivian Thomas, by this cast. These men broke new medical ...