User reviews

I'm a scientist who had used HeLa cells in my work in the past. I remember that proposal in Science about the cells deserving another species designation--and being dismayed by that myself. And watching the daughter character react to that provided a new perspective for me.

The book was very well done and informative. It provided important awareness for those of us in science about the data we are using and about who provided it. Of course, there were many more details that can't be conveyed in a such a short retelling on film, but I thought it captured the key points very well. And it brought the family to vivid reality in a way the book text cannot. I am really glad to have been able to witness the portrayal of their feelings and reactions to this situation.

It's a worthwhile film on an important topic that people should see and think about. And you should think about it before you submit your DNA to just any research or company that comes along. There may be times when that's the right thing to do--but do consider the implications.

If I hadn't read the well-written book, I would know less about the Lacks family, Henrietta in particular. In this movie, Henrietta the woman doesn't seem to be the central character.The movie introduces the family and concerns itself mostly with their intense anger at Johns Hopkins for being kept completely in the dark about the research. Thank goodness for HeLa cells, even though no permission was granted because, at the time, it wasn't the norm to ask.The movie's resolution was unsatisfactory for me, but Oprah gives an intensely personal performance as Henrietta's daughter Deborah and will probably be nominated for an Emmy. I had never seen Rose Byrne in a movie or TV show, but I thought she did well as Rebecca Skloot.

Back in 2011, Rebeccas Skloot published "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and I read this excellent book. The thrust of the book was three-fold: about the contribution of Henrietta's cells to medical research, about the life of Henrietta that Skloot was able to piece together with the help of her family and about her relationship with Henrietta's family. This new film essentially breezes through the first two plot lines and focuses almost exclusively with the relationship between Skloot (Rose Byrne) and Henrietta's mentally ill daughter, Deborah (Oprah Winfrey). Winfrey was amazingly good in her role...but this plot line seemed to be THE film at times and if you want to learn more about Henrietta as well as what made her cancer cells so important, I suggest you just read the book. Overall, well done but far, far from perfect.

9/8/17. Since I read the book I was so looking forward to seeing this with Winfrey. Sadly, it was somewhat of a disappointment, especially if you have read the book and enjoyed it. I just loved the book because it was so well-written. Though the movie did cover the book rather adequately the emphasis on the infighting among Lacks's adult children made the movie uncomfortable to watch. These adult children were not educated. Winfrey's portrayal of Debbie Lacks was spot-on as well- meaning daughter who wanted to learn more about her mother but was fraught with mental health issues that made her labile and unreasonable most of the time. Byrne did a find job of portraying Skloot. You will actually feel sorry for her because of how much grief she had to go through to get the facts right and pay homage to Henrietta Lacks and her contribution to medical research. I don't think this movie is worth watching, but the book is definitely worth reading.

It's a good biographical drama, but the only problem is its not what exactly the title says. If you believed to learn about Henrietta Lacks and went to see it, you might end disappointingly. Because she was the only topic of the story, not the actual story, except a few glimpses. It is like you watched 'Infamous' or 'Capote', instead of 'In Cold Blood'. That's what like this film. Yet not a bad film.

A writer pursuing the family members of a person who lived in the mid 20th century, because she was a medical phenomenon. Her cells used to treat cancer, despite she had died of cancer, leaving her young kids behind. Her descendants not aware of how things work in the medical research, only misguided by others, finally, set to discover the truth themselves about all the fuss.

It was nominated for the Emmy, but did not win. Oprah was okay, but Rose Byrne impressed me. Except a misleading title, it is a good film, but I really wanted/want to know the Henrietta Lacks. That's funny, because they have told us an unnecessary story. I hope somebody would make a film about actual Henrietta Lacks!

5.5/10

Oprah sure can bring the crazy ugly is an amazing fierce way. Now, is that good or bad - I'm not quite sure, but definitely entertaining.

The story of Henrietta Lacks biological cells being taken for medical purposes without her family's knowledge or permission has lasting repercussions on her family's mental health and relationships.

I have not read the book, but after viewing this I plan on it.

Yes, I see all the negative reviews, but my experience was different. This movie was wonderful. Admittedly it didn't come close to covering the entire book; what movie does? The slice covered is the experience of Henrietta Lacks' children and grandchildren and their reactions as adults to the attempt to write a book about their mother's situation. Rose Byrne did a great job, as always, as the writer of the book, and Oprah was heartpoundingly good as Lacks' troubled daughter. I love that the daughter wasn't glamorous, nor powerful, but Oprah still breathed life into her and absolutely owned the screen. To me this movie animates many different ways of dealing with loss, grief, and intense resentment at unfair treatment. If you're willing to see it as a story of Lacks' personal, not scientific, legacy, I think you'll find the movie transcendent, as I did.

After having read the book and suggested this book to a lot of my friends. I was happy to see it become an HBO film. I just finished watching it and I all I can say is read the book. The story line does not even break the surface of what her cells did to help create cures for. It seemed to be more focused on Oprah's character then Henrietta's story. Not surprising since Oprah was behind the making of this film. I was really hoping this was going to be a good show but sadly it turned out to be really bad

When I saw the only other user review so far was negative I couldn't resist writing one of my own. This a powerful story, and I disagree with the other reviewer both about its alleged pointlessness but also that it should have been set entirely in the context of Henrietta's life. This story isn't just about her; it's about what they took form her, and how she died, and how the medical world cloned her cells and used them to fix and fight all kinds of problems while in contrast she herself died of cancer and the hole that her absence left in her family's life. It's about the heartbreak her family has to live with everyday, without her, in a world full of people who (for the most part) seem more interested in making money from her than who she was or what she left behind.

I'm even more desperate to get my hands on the book now than I was when I saw the trailer and I am extremely disappointed that I didn't find it on the shelves of my local book stores and that I will be forced to order it online. I can't wait to delve into this story further and get further immersed in the details of it; I know movies (especially ones based on books) are frequently disappointing and too often pressed into the same stereotypical molds, so I am eager to see how the story unfolds in the book.

Its heart breaking story that for sure and opra was good in it but it feels like intrdoucion or episode one of a TV series , i dont know how to descipe it propaly ... thay did not convey the story or give it a good desancy that needed especially that it is a massive human story and they did not explian or portary the medical informiton very well i did not understand how her seels could last to those decades it feels chopped out or cut out although it is not mainly bad per say but neddid much more good shaping and much more perfect placing of scenes with much more clarity for us the audaince really.

The book is fascinating - educates about science, and develops respect for the family and their mother's legacy. it prompts discussions about the ethical issue of the cells. The move, on the other hand, is a family drama with the cells as a prop. Makes the family look crazy - not the point of the book at all. Characters seem stereotypical, poor, uneducated. If you liked the book, the movie is sure to disappoint. The best part of the movie is the credits in the begnining - edgy, informative quickly telling the history of the cells.

My friend started a Movie Club. On Sundays, one of us posts movie that we all should see during following week and on next Sunday we discuss it and choose next movie. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is biography drama made for television with Oprah in leading role. Definitely not my cup of tea. But to avoid being party-breaker at the very beginning of the movie club I sat to see it. Honestly, I was bored.

During '50s, cells of anonymous Afro-american woman who was dying of cancer made revolutionary breakthrough in medicine. Half century later, journalist Rebecca Skloot decides to write book about HELA cells, Henrietta Lacks, woman whose cells are in question, her life and family. If I understood correctly, this movie is adaptation of that book.

Movie follows Rebecca during her research for the book and her relations with Henrietta's children, with lots of flashbacks on this family's past. Past full of drama, emotional trauma and mental illness. But there's almost nothing about HELA cells and their application in modern medicine.

Technically speaking movie is solid and I have no objections. Oprah nailed the role of Henrietta's daughter Deborah. But honestly, I do not see the point of making this movie, except to set up a stage for Oprah, who besides leading role is also producer of this film, to show her remarkable acting skills. Biography dramas usually present lives of people whose achievements left mark in history. They bring us closer to their lives and personality and show us how they came to get into history. Henrietta Lacks as person didn't do anything worthy of biography drama. Incidentally, her body produced something that made breakthrough in medicine, but I don't see how it is her merit and what her children and their family drama have to do with HELA cells and research. As family and as individuals these people are completely irrelevant for history and I have no idea why would anybody write about them.

6/10

I read this book years ago and couldn't put it down. Deborah's (Oprah) story was not the intended focal point of the book, but as I remember her interactions with the author sort of took over. In that way the movie did well focusing on the relationship between the two. A huge part of the book was not just about the science or Henrietta herself but her family and a young writer getting herself into more than just a science book. I enjoyed it

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!

Rarely has an excellent book been so poorly transferred to the screen. You can definitely see Oprah's influence on what was going to be in the screenplay. Gone is almost every scene that would show us Henrietta and HER life, so that Oprah, as her daughter, could monopolize the film. Sad. My advice, read the book instead.

This movie was AMAZING! I have not read the book but I plan to. I disagree with some of the negative reviews I read. The intended audience is everyone - those who read the book and others who did not or may not even know about the story. This movie does not focus on HeLa cells and the medical advances made because of them; this movie humanizes the story behind the HeLa cells. Who was Henrietta Lacks? Who were her offspring? When did they find out about their mother's cells being used? More amazingly, the movie analyzes how the discovery of their mother's cell impacted her children.

On a different note, I don't understand how the family is not able to recover financially. It's unfortunate that the laws protect and benefit those with means and power. At minimum, the family should be able to recover for the intentional fraudulent activity directed toward them by the medical community (i.e. taking blood and who knows what other samples from the children of Henrietta under false pretenses).

I had high expectations for this movie but was so disappointed with the "Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". I expected a movie more in the vein of "And The Band Played On" (HBO 1993).

Henrietta Lacks deserved a much stronger depiction of her story. The injustices she received were wrong. Period. Instead, the movie focused more on her descendant family while only fleetingly brushing the injustices she received into the movie.

The folks who wrote and directed the movie should be embarrassed. They had a great opportunity but failed to deliver.

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.