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SOMETHING THE LORD MADE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: abuse of deity, language, thematic elements

Rated:

I have always enjoyed films based on actual events, because it gives men hope to see what others have accomplished. Miracles worked through attempts to improve the lives of other people never fail to inspire. Much the same can be said of Something the Lord Made, a film that chronicles the events surrounding the first successful heart bypass surgery.

Carpenter Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) has just been "let go," and finds a less than savory position cleaning out the dog pens at the local medical institution. The job pays twelve dollars a week, enough to provide the opportunity for him to marry his beautiful sweetheart Mary (Henri Edmonds). The laboratories work experiments on canines in order to attempt to find successful medical alternatives for humans. In command of the institution is the formidable but eccentric Dr. Blalock (Alan Rickman). He rapidly comes to realize that his new janitor has a natural hand at medicine, and recruits him to assist in his experiments. Thomas intends to go to medical school, but a local bank closure forces his dreams into the background as Blalock is promoted to a high position at the James Hopkins Medical Institute.

The institution is rampant with racism and most of the white students look on Thomas, Blalock's chief of staff, with distain, while he is horrified to learn that he's a Class C employee with a paycheck so small he's forced to do odd jobs around the apartment building just to pull even. Around this time, intrepid Dr. Taussig (Mary Stuart Masterson) comes to Blalock with a plea for him to find a cure for "blue babies." These unfortunate children have a vein leading from their heart that cannot pump the adequate amount of blood to the lungs, resulting in an unnatural blue skin tone. Normally, they do not live more than a few months. Having found their passion at last, Blalock and Thomas strive to find a solution against a ticking clock, then must invent a procedure that will forever change the face of medical history.

One of the underlining themes of this film is the blatant racism that existed in the 1940's, whether it's having separate bathrooms for "colored" or "white" people, or the humiliation of Thomas having to come to work through the side entrance. Equal rights for black Americans were not at full force in that era, though Thomas' older brother is engaged in a civil suit against a school that pays black teachers less than their white counterparts, and brief homage is made to Martin Luthor King in news clips. It's a minor point, but interesting to see the racism slowly retreat beneath a banner of respect. The final monument to Thomas comes when his painting is hung in the hall of the school's most influential physicians. There are moments of sorrow, and family sacrifice (both Blalock and Thomas spend too much time away from their families) but primarily triumphs.

One f-word, multiple uses of s**t, mild profanities, and two abuses of Jesus' name taint what is otherwise a clean production. There is also much emphasis on surgery and using animals for testing, a rather controversial set of scenes that might disconcert some viewers. (Dogs are said to have died under medical procedures; in one case, they force the canine into a cationic state similar to the "blue babies" so they can work a cure.) Blalock walks in on Thomas holding a bloody dog in his arms; apparently, the stitches came out and he died of internal bleeding. Brief foul language took away from what is actually a very touching film about "everyday heroes." Sometimes they do not wear a cape or leap buildings in a single bound, but hold a scalpel and bring children back to life.