Something the Lord Made

Starring:Alan Rickman, Mos Def, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kyra Sedgwick, Merritt Wever, Doug Olear, Patrick Brown (IV), David Bailey (III), Chris Boykin, Antonio D. Charity, Bolton Marsh, Lynn-Jane Foreman, Sean MacLaughlin, James E. Ash, Tel Monks, Dan Franko, Justin Hinnant, Gabrielle Union, Carolyn Rawleigh, LeRoy Taylor
Director: Joseph Sargent
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Something the Lord Made recounts the relationship between Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and Vivian Thomas (Mos Def). It begins in 1930s Nashville when imperious cardiac surgeon Blalock hires Thomas, an African American carpenter, as his janitor. When the latter reveals a passion for medicine and facility with surgical instruments, Blalock promotes him to lab tech. Thomas isn't given a raise, works side jobs to make ends meet, and is expected to be grateful. Along the way, he follows Blalock from Vanderbilt to Johns Hopkins, where they save thousands of lives through their pioneering work, but will Thomas ever get any credit? The film provides a satisfying answer to that question. Joseph Sargent (A Lesson Before Dying) directs with subtlety and intelligence, while Rickman and Mos Def are in top form, often underplaying where most actors would do otherwise. Something the Lord Made won the 2004 Emmy for outstanding made-for-TV movie. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

(Drama) 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) and lab technician Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) form an impressive team. 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.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Audio commentary with director Joseph Sargent, writer Peter Silverman, executive directors Eric Hetzel and Joseph W. Cort Featurette Making History Slide Show
Featurette
Other:Making History Slide Show

Customer Reviews:

Excellent movie!.......2007-07-03

This movie is a must see. It will keep your interest throughout. There are no dull moments. I didn't realize that Mos Def is such a wonderful actor.

The Birth of Open Heart Surgery.......2007-06-27

Before (or after) you see this incredible video, you might want to read the book, "Partners Of The Heart" written by Dr. Vivian Thomas,an account of his role in pioneering open heart surgery. It's funny to see a young Dr. Denton Cooley as a resident observing and learning. This is a heart wrenching story of a man with talent beyond comprehension who never had a chance to actually attend medical school - simply because of his race. Even if you are not entrenched in the medical field you will appreciate this movie. The acting is superb, and it is said Mos Def does an outstanding job of portraying Dr. Thomas.

A story about a miraculous surgery that saves lives........2007-06-26

Born in 1987, I never knew the story about the surgery that saved my life. I was born a "blue baby", yet today I am still alive. Two amazing figures in the history of medicine made this all possible.
"Something the Lord Made" is a powerful story about two colleagues of different backgrounds who strive to save babies with a congential deformity. The movie shows great social inequality as a genius African American assistant helps solve the mystory of the heart. Without this groundbreaking research, many people today would not be alive.

Something the Lord made right!!!.......2007-06-12

Absolutly superb.
Heart warming and sincere.
Four of the most influential people in heart surgury in the world.

Something HBO Made.......2007-05-17

When I read the description of Something The Lord Made, I thought to myself - there is just no conceivable way that this is going to be interesting. However, it did have a lot going for it. It was directed by Joseph Sargent, who also directed the brilliant, A Lesson Before Dying. It starred Alan Rickman who is so good he could make an IKEA commercial look like it was directed by Ingmar Bergman. It paired Rickman with Mos Def, who has remarkable screen presence. (I first noticed Mos Def in another exceptional film, The Woodsman, which, coincidentally or not, also featured Kyra Sedgwick.) So, despite the promise of (in)action confined exclusively to a medical lab, I forged ahead.

I'm so glad I did. This is one of those minor gems you might easily miss. Make sure to pay attention to the score, which is outstanding. It's way too easy to sketch this movie out as an anti-racism diatribe, that's way too facile. As with A Lesson Before Dying, racism is simply a fact, not a larger-than-life villain. This, of course, makes the depiction that much more powerful. We don't see the pain of racism courtesy of gassy soliloquies; we feel the pain of it as we read Mos Def's face watching Dr. Blalock receive his award at Baltimore's Biltmore Hotel.

Why beat a dead parrot? We know the Biltmore is segregated. Vivien - Def - can only gain admittance by posing as a bellhop. We know that Blalock is a vain and arrogant surgeon (quelle surprise!) only too willing to bask in glory that would never have been his without Vivien's remarkable contributions. And yes, we know that the racist culture surrounding these men makes it easy for Blalock to distance himself from Vivien when it suits him.

This context of racism is woven right into our flag; it's part of the culture, hardly newsworthy enough to merit a film. The engine that's really driving Something The Lord Made is not racism at all; it's the subtle, complex relationship joining these very different men who share a passion for medicine. The interplay between Vivien's self-effacing, quiet dignity and Blalock's braggadocio is pure gold, these two are so right for each other; they balance one another in a way that is touching at the very least.

Certainly there were moments when I wanted to explain to the supercilious twits at Hopkins that Vivien was the genius behind the wheel and they should be lavishing praise on him. At times it was sad, and Vivien's stoicism makes it sadder. But the movie never takes cheap shots; Def and Rickman offer marvelously reserved performances, thereby increasing the impact. Ultimately I was left with an overwhelmingly positive sense of how people can, and often do, achieve miraculous things despite the mountains of debris and bizarre baggage they've been saddled with. A wonderful film.

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