Something the Lord Made may not set the film world on fire, but it's reasonably well crafted and entertaining, and comes in a step above most "based on a true story" TV-movies. This unassuming little film tells the story of medical pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, who together designed and implemented the very first heart surgery procedure in their work in saving the "blue babies," infants born with a defect in their heart valve. What makes the story of Blalock and Thomas more unusual is that this partnership, which started in the 1930s, was between a prestigious white surgeon (Blalock) and a poor black carpenter (Thomas) who became his lab assistant.

Casting Alan Rickman in the role of Dr. Blalock certainly gives Something the Lord Made a degree of credibility in terms of acting quality; it's a shame to not get to hear Rickman's positively delicious British accent, but his assumed southern accent is quite believable. (British actors usually have much more success in imitating U.S. accents than the other way around.) Rickman plays the role in a fairly low-key manner, but he's not just phoning it in: when it's called for, he brings a definite snap to the performance. What's perhaps more surprising is the creditable performance turned in by Mos Def as Thomas. I wouldn't have pegged him as primarily a hip-hop artist if I hadn't know it already, and I can see why he's now making a solid career for himself as an actor. The character of Thomas is one that has to be played in a very understated manner, while still giving a sense of the determination and self-respect that keep him going, and I'd say that Mos Def handles the job quite well.

Something the Lord Made opens in the 1930s, with Thomas struggling to make ends meet while still dreaming of entering the medical profession. Probably the one thing that impressed me most about the film is its matter-of-fact presentation of a character who is deeply interested in learning, who is curious and self-motivated to read and understand new things on his own. That's not the central point of the film, which goes on to develop the relationship between Blalock and Thomas, and to narrate their joint medical breakthrough and later careers, which in a way makes it even more refreshing. It's just nice to see a young and appealing character being shown as such a positive role model for an interest in learning new things.

All in all, Something the Lord Made is a reasonably entertaining film. The pacing does sag a bit toward the end, as the last twenty minutes or so feel as though they've been drawn out too long, but at 110 minutes it manages to close up shop before things bog down too much.

The DVD

Video

Something the Lord Made appears in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is anamorphically enhanced. The image quality is quite good, making for a pleasing viewing experience overall. The image is bright and clean, with attractive, natural-looking colors. There's a certain softness to the picture, and some edge enhancement is present, but overall it looks good.

Audio

The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack offers a pleasing, reasonably immersive audio experience. There's not much call for surround sound in this mainly dialogue-centered film, but it does sound clean and natural throughout the film. A Dolby 2.0 English track is also included, along with French 2.0 and Spanish 2.0 tracks. Closed captioning and English, Spanish, and French subtitles are included.

Extras

It's nice to see even a modest film like this with a reasonable slate of special features. The main feature is a full-length audio commentary track from director Joseph Sargent, writer Peter Silverman, and executive producers Eric Hetzel and Robert W. Cort.

The "featurette" is really just a three-minute promotional piece, but the "Making History Slide Show" is worth a glance, as it provides text information about the historical facts behind the film along with its images.

Final thoughts

Something the Lord Made is a minor but enjoyable film, and it's one that will be well suited to viewing together for families with children. For those who caught the film on television and liked it, the DVD also has some decent special features to make it worth picking up. I'll give it a mild "recommended."