Themes: Race Relations, Underdogs, Doctors and Patients
Main Cast: Alan Rickman, Mos Def, Kyra Sedgwick, Gabrielle Union, Mary Stuart Masterson, Charles S. Dutton
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
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
Lynn Kressel - Casting, Pat Moran - Casting, Andrea Kalin - Consultant/advisor, Dr. J. Alex Haller - Consultant/advisor, Dr. Koco Eaton - Consultant/advisor, Irving Sorkin - Co-producer, Joseph Sargent - Director, Michael Brown - Editor, Robert W. Cort - Executive Producer, David Madden - Executive Producer, Eric Hetzel - Executive Producer, Christopher Young - Composer (Music Score), Evyen Klean - Musical Direction/Supervision, Vincent Peranio - Production Designer, Donald M. Morgan - Cinematographer, Julian Krainin - Producer, Mike Drake - Producer, Robert Caswell - Screenwriter, Peter Silverman - Screenwriter
