Some things...

I really liked this moview most of the way through. I was pleased with the performance of Mos Def as well as Rickman (should I say Def and Rickman?) Mos Def's performance in Monster's Ball was small but good, I wanted to see him in more.

The only caveat I have with movies of this nature is that history lessons are never adequately given in film since they are always up to the philosophical whims of the production staff. I would like to know particularly the level of contribution vis-a-vis surgery. While the research seemed equally balanced between the two, toward the end we are implicitly led to believe that generally Dr. Blalock would not have been able to perform these things without Thomas and that, as quoted in the movie, Thomas "saved his ass" when performing it for the first time. While I think that could, we are later seen Dr. Blalock taking the credit while seeming to wrestle with his concience.

I'm only expressing this because in the film it is said that Thomas wanted to go to college but never had the money, while the biographical sketch located at http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/vthomas.htm says Thomas left college the first year. While this is a seemingly small detail, I think it is important enough that it could subtly sway someone's opinion toward the idea that Thomas was responsible for the breakthrough when they have both acknowledged that it was a team effort. If this kind of detail is changed there could be others that were changed to fit the story.

I don't usually like HBO films although I have liked some in the past. I think this is a fine addition to the HBO resume as long as it is viewed with a healthy interest in the complete details of the story, and not just those presented within.

F