Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

A good friend of mine advised me to watch this movie, so I did after he pushed me a lot.

It's a fascinating story to watch and while watching the tension increased and it kept me sitting at the edge of my seat till the end. And the fact that this movie is based on a true story, makes it even more fascinating.

The acting in this movie has been done wonderfully, as expected from Cuba Gooding Jr.

Normally I don't watch these kind of movies, but I'm glad I watched this movie. As for anyone else who doubts about this movie, don't. Just watch it, it will be worth it!

Cuba Gooding plays Dr Ben Carson.

It starts off with young Ben a black child living with his mother and brother Curtis. Ben is not doing well in school and is being made fun of.

His mother keeps telling him he has to study and watch less TV. She has a strong faith in God will not accept excuses. She is hardworking and encourages the kids to read and use their brain.

Ben's mother asks him to read some of the things in the cabinet where boxes are. He says he cannot see that far away. She discovers he is having trouble reading because he cannot see and probably needs glasses.

She explains to him some excuse about her not see without her glasses but she never told her kids she cannot read. This and other things cause her to get depressed and she seeks help.

This story shows the hardship of a black single mom raising two boys. It shows the Ben being made fun of and at times put down because he is smart and also because he black.

Ben has little faith in himself but the constant reassurance from his mom helps him succeed as a prominent a brain surgeon.

You may cry at times. Ben and his mother and the cast are real good actors. I think this is a wonderful movie. You can see it on YouTube it is in English but there are subtitles.

Gifted Hands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFvRWiFV4N0

I found this movie deeply moving. As a person of faith, I was impressed by the positive depiction of religion in helping Ben Carson and his mother to strive to overcome negative influences in their lives.

In response to ctomvelu-1 who commented on "evil racist whites (what other kind could there be in a story like this?", I would like to point out that the psychiatrist who helps Ben's mother overcome depression, the science teacher who shows Ben another world in a microscope, the admissions counselor who is impressed by Ben's interest in classical music are positive white role models, just to name a few. The black teenage gang member is also depicted as the kind that holds fellow blacks back by berating those who strive for excellence for trying to be white. More people of all races should see this movie.

Says Dr. Ben Carson upon being asked why he wanted to be a brain surgeon during his screening interview as an applicant for internship at prestigious John Hopkins Hospital. That Carson would become eventually, perhaps, the best and most renowned Pediatric Neurosurgeon in the world is even a bigger miracle! I can identify with those words, because "What the human mind can conceive and believe, it can ACHIEVE!"-Dr. Napoleon Hill. Each time I sit down to write a review, my goal is to find some aspect of the film that inspires me, and then manage to express that in a way that will, in turn, serve to inspire you!

In the case of GIFTED HANDS, there is a lot of inspiration at its core! Dr. Carson's particular well-spring of inspiration is his faith in God. Unfortunately, there are always a few people who seem to find this religious source anathema to their continued existence on this planet! Why is that? I consider myself a spiritual person, but not really religious, in the traditional sense. Yet, I find this attitude just as baffling as those who cannot countenance a storyline where inspiration is NOT faith-based. Inspiration is inspiration, no matter who, where, how, when or why, IMO! GIFTED HANDS deserves KUDOS for several things it doesn't do: Despite being about an African-American trailblazer starting out in the 60's and 70's, there is only one brief scene where Carson is dissed simply for being "different". Certainly, there must have been a number of times in his life where he encountered racism, but one scene was enough to underscore this. (One of the BEST scenes in the film, BTW) Cuba Gooding, Jr. Was excellent (but not great) in the title role. Critiques; even with his wrinkles digitally air-brushed out, at 41, Gooding was too old to play a 19 year-old college Freshman. Also, as is usually the case with TV productions, some aspects were somewhat below par, causing me to rate this 8.5/10*

To summarize this story in a nutshell, it's about an amazing neurologist named Ben Carson, who started off with nothing. He was dumb and unimaginative with a very low self esteem. As he goes through the years some things get worse with relationships and such, as others get better, like knowledge, but he grows up to be this neurologist, the best in the world and his jobs range from checking over babies to stopping daily seizures. The movie goes through all his good times and his bad times from start to finish.

I know it doesn't sound that interesting, but it really is. It seems slow at some parts, but all the characters put out wonderful dramatic performances. I almost cried there at the end. The writers put a lot of time into this with some excellent dialog here and there. The director did a good job too. It's not superb quality, but everything about this movie was great. Something else to keep in mind is that this is based on a true story and it's a book. I haven't read the book, but I've heard it's wonderful. If you've read it and you're scared the movie will suck, don't worry, it doesn't.

I guess that's about all there is to say about this movie. Once again, good job TNT. But if I were you, I would've sent it to the cinemas first.