Yes, that Ben Carson. I hadn't heard of him before he entered the presidential race, but his past as a neurosurgeon is worth knowing. Since this TV movie predates his political career, I could count on it not to carry a political bias one way or another.
The biopic looks back as far as 1961, when Ben was in fourth grade -- and bombing at it, until his mother (Kimberly Elise) put his nose to the grindstone. We then see segments with him in eighth grade, when he had a violent attitude problem; and at Yale, where he started feeling like an underachiever all over again. About half the 90 minutes show him in adulthood, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. He still faces tough challenges at that point, but they tend to be rarer, such as the need to perform a hemispherectomy. And his 1987 crowning medical achievement, previewed at the start: the first-ever separation of babies joined at the cranium with both surviving. (He had a large team, but he thought up the approach and directed their actions.)
After Selma, I found it a significant relief to watch a story of a real man that doesn't shy away from his historical shortcomings. Teenage Ben even tried to stab his only friend (that we know of) in the stomach with a black-market knife. Once in a while, he faced open verbal racism, but his main obstacles lay within himself or, later, anomalies of human anatomy.
Gooding makes a passable likeness to Dr. Carson, differing slightly in voice. It's nice to know that even after his acting career declined, he could still emote appropriately on screen. (I'm thinking of a particular tragedy that threatened to put a crimp in Carson's glowing track record.) The other star of a sort is Elise, convincing as a devoted, long-suffering single mom who never doubted her son's potential.
This being a TNT original, you can expect only so much from the production values, as reflected in the bland cinematography. It also includes something not found much in mainstream Hollywood: The protagonist prays on several occasions. You may find that annoying, but I imagine it's true to life. Ultimately, it reminds me of Something the Lord Made more than anything else.
Current fans of Ben Carson will like him even better after seeing Gifted Hands. Others will think, "Aw, man, if only he didn't move on to another line of work!" Either way, I think you won't mind watching.
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