The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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.

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.

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.

I was hoping for so much more. I have not read the book, so I don't know how well the film depicted the book. I just felt utterly confused at some scenes. The editing was disjointed and parts of the story seemed to be missing, jumping from one emotion or conversation to another with no explanation. I love Rose Byrne but her character was clearly just a sidekick and there was NO chemistry with Ms. O, I wonder if they even got along during filming?

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.