The Surly Admin

Something the Lord Made

Somehow, my wife and I got roped into a movie last night that kept us up until 1am.  It was an amazing film from HBO called “Something the Lord made“.  Really an amazing story that was written, and acted, well.

It’s a quiet film about a doctor and his black assistant, set in the 40’s.  This doctor pioneered heart surgery in the modern era.  But the real story is, he was too busy and his assistant, a man named Vivien Thomas did the actual work and created the procedures, tools and technique’s to make the surgery’s possible.  Vivien is played by Mos Def, and he gave what I feel is one of the most brilliant acting performances I’ve seen in a long time.  Despite the obvious opportunities to firebrand, preach or any of 1000 obvious things Hollywood is famous for, this movie–and this actor–resisted all of it and turned in a gentle, subtle performance that moved me as few movies do.

You can find this movie on HBO and probably on video by now and I highly recommend it.

To quote the movie:

“Vivien, are you sure you did this?”
“Dr?”
“Because it feels like something the Lord made…”

September 29, 2009 - Posted by Martin9700 | Random Thoughts | alan rickman, hbo, mos def, movie review