umalib I'd like to see more movies like this one in the theaters. Extraordinary movie, fantastic actors. Kimberly Elise as Ben's mom (Sonya Carson) is amazing! Sonya is an example of what parenting means. She was not only concerned about giving good academic education to her children but taught them to have values and faith in God. If more parents would be concerned and involved in their children's education we would have more Einsteins, more Mozarts, more Carsons. I really recommend this movie to parents who care for their children and to children who want to understand why their parents expect so much from them. We need to remember that diamonds are created under great pressure.

michelle_16480 This movie is about a young boy who lived with his mother and his older brother. The movie begins in 1987, where Dr. Ben Carson goes to Germany to visit a couple named Peter and Augusta Rausch, who have twins conjoined at the head. He knows that chances of saving them both will be a risk, because one baby always dies in situations like that. Ben agrees to do the operation, but he will wait four months so he can come up with a plan to save them both. While looking into some of his books, the movie flashes back to the year 1961, where 11 year old Ben Carson starts out life as an African American child from a one parents home with only a mother, with failing grades at school. Ben has an older brother named Curtis. Ben's mother starts making all the decisions for him, even though she can't even read because she dropped out of school herself, but she doesn't want the same for her boys. Their mother went to a mental institution to check herself out and she made them promise her that they would learn their multiplication table. When she sees her two sons' success hindered by TV, she schedules times that they are allowed to watch TV and when they aren't. , boys show great interest in watching only a quiz show later on and commands them to read two books per week from the library and give her a book report, she also moves them to better schools. This was a really great movie to watch because part of the movie focused on racism. Ben Carson went through being called names and not getting to get into college or getting a job because he was black. The kids and even the principle at school made fun of him because he was black, even though he was a very smart kid. This is definitely an inspirational movie, and I think many people should have the chance to watch it.

spheckma Dr. Ben Carson is a 'real life' doctor who overcame many, many hardships and disadvantages to reach the level of Neuro-surgeon at John Hopkins Hospital where he still practices. The primary actor, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Dr. Carson and Kimberly Elise as the single mother of two boys are played extremely well. As they grow up in not the best of circumstances she is their constant motivator even thought, at first, she is illiterate. As a youngster and teen he is constantly pushed by her to succeed and in the end succeed and succeed he does, to the top of his field while his brother goes on to become and engineer. The story is brilliantly told and realistically shot, well directed and as the actors ages advance we see the portrayed by the next actor in a realistic manner. All in all a great movie to watch and in the end as about as rewarding to have seen as it gets.

TxMike When you look over the roles that Cuba Gooding Jr. has had over the years, seeing the diversity in the characters, you realize what a gifted actor he is. He shows it clearly in this role, as Ben Carson, gifted surgeon from very humble beginnings.The movie opens with a difficult case where Dr Carson is contemplating the separation of German conjoined twins, sharing a cranium and parts of their brains. His big hurdle is figuring out a way to keep them from bleeding to death during the surgery. From that we are treated to a long flashback of his life from a young student, through his teen years, and medical school.Ben Carson was not a "natural." He had developed spotty study habits and was distracted by hours of TV after school. As a result he was borderline failing in all his classes. But the awakening came when his mother insisted that he and his brother spend less time watching TV and more time reading books from the library.Ben Carson became a success from his mother's motivation, and from his own motivation to became a doctor. As the movie draws to its conclusion we are again taken to the beginning, the difficult case of the conjoined twins. He pioneered a procedure which proved to be successful.A bonus in the DVD extras include the real Ben Carson, who today is not that much older than the actor who plays him in this movie.