Something The Lord Made

This is a "Made for HBO" movie that is absolutely brilliant. It could have been a big screen movie, but for the fact that no one knows who Alfred Blalock is. This is a Bio-pic of his professional career, and the developments he was able to engineer in the medical field. Alan Rickman plays the good Doctor, but more than that, the story actually revolves around his young assistant. Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) is an uneducated black man during the 1930's. Their relationship began at Vanderbilt University (Holla) where Vivien turns out to be quite the helper to Blalock's genius. Being black and in the south and in the 1930's this relationship is more than frowned upon. He is snuck into the back door, so not to be seen in the lab. His relevance in the matter is astounding. Blalock trusts himself with an authority unmatched, but quickly begins to trust what Vivien thinks even more. Blalock soon takes a job at the prestigious Johns Hopkins ( I know Johnny Hopkins and he blazes that S*** up everyday). He takes the job, but must have his helper at his side, because he realizes he is better when Vivien is there. Vivien follows him and they begin research on "blue baby syndrome" which is when babies don't get enough blood to the heart. Blalock soon develops a theory backed up by Vivien. A heart valve is missing and needs to be added to the equation. He and Vivien start working out the kinks on dogs. They do transplants, or new surgeries, and will soon invent what we know as Bypass heart surgery. The failures are almost to much to handle, but hey must strive on. Vivien is still not known for going through the front, but he is ok with it. He knows his place in this world and he embraces it. When it comes time for Blalock to do his first blue baby operation he clams up. What does he do? He throws pride aside, and rund to the nearest loud speaker intercom system. He belts out "Vivien Thomas to the ER", and he is confused as anyone else. He knows he is the man behind the curtain, and when the nurses have trouble grasping the fact that he needs to be scrubbed up, Blalock lets them know what up. Vivien shines and the new procedure is a miracle that will save many lives, and he gets 100% of the recognition even though they both fixed the system. This is when Vivien starts to get perturbed,      but he knows what he signed up for. Their relationship spanned 3+ decades, and this film will move you. i had seen it 3 times, when one day my wife walked in and asked what it was. I was sure she had seen. I was wrong. I had always been by myself. That was the fourth time I watched it in it's entirety, and she understood why had seen it so much. She really dug it. When casting Vivien, I was a little lost they would go with a rapper turned actor, as opposed to a Cuba Gooding, or Anthony Mackie. This just proves that Mr. Def belongs in Hollywood, and if he did it full time he could have a shot at Oscar gold eventually. Look at this film, along with 16 blocks and tell me I'm wrong.

NBM rates Something the Lord Made - Phenomenal

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