gbkmmaurstad If you're thinking of submitting your DNA to research your ancestry, this film is for you. In 1951 Henritta Lacks an African-American woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer four and a half months after the birth of her fifth and last child at John Hopkins hosptial in Baltimore, Maryland. Complaining of a "knot" in her stomach/womb, she returns to John Hopkins the only hosptial that would accept African-Americans in search of a diagnosis. Without her consent, cells of a cancerous tumor and healthly cells are taken, which were a common practice at the time. Researcher George Gey discovers Henritta's healthy cells under specific conditions will reproduce indefinitely. These cells become known as the HeLa line and instrumental in cancer research. It is only when a batch becomes contaminated in the 70s and the Lack's family is contacted for additional blood samples that the family begins to question the interest in their family. Henritta's daughter, Renee Elise Goldsberry (Oprah Winfrey) begins the search of who her mother was.The film raises moral and ethical questions within the medical world and continues to do so. No one will see this film and not have an opinion so be sure to save time for the after movie discussion. Not for young viewers due to mature topic.

phd_travel I watched this show for the smiling and lovely Rose Byrne. Plus the subject is interesting. Unfortunately the focus is a bit off. More needed to be shown on the effects and use of her cells on medical science apart from a brief blast at the beginning. The focus of this movie was on the writer's difficulties with the children of Henrietta Lacks and their various mental and emotional problems. It seemed more like a showcase for Oprah to show her acting skills which are pretty good.It's like half a good movie missing the main part.

msbehavin_brat I was so excited to see this movie, as the book has been on my list to read for awhile. I had not gotten around to reading the book prior to seeing the movie & perhaps that would have helped? The movie is disjointed & makes little sense. It is primarily about Henrietta's daughter & her relationship with the book's author. I was okay with that, but characters were never explained & many decisions in the film & dialogue made no sense b/c the story wasn't flushed out enough to understand the importance of the choices or dialogue. For example the "talk to the men" theme is made a big deal of in the beginning. It's repeated several times. It's never explained though. Why were they insistent that Skloot could only talk to the men. It came from several characters, but then most of the movie is spent NOT talking to the men. It never made any sense. Some character's behavior was not explained until almost the end of the film, which really hurt the viewer's ability to empathize & warm to the characters. It was such a shame as there were many great actors who performed well, but ultimately the lack of background info & poor choices, made this movie a mess. I had such high hopes :-( I'm still looking fwd to reading the book, maybe that will fill in the huge gaps of the movie. You won't miss much if you skip this one!

catlvr14 I read the book years ago and thought it was terrific. I was very excited to hear that it was going to be made into a movie and waited a long time for its fruition. What a disappointment! I watched it to the end, but honestly, almost turned it off several times. It was nothing like the book as I remember it. I wish I could un-watch this and get the 1 hour,35 minutes I spent watching it back.