In 1951, cancerous cells from Henrietta Lacks lead to breakthroughs that change the face of medicine forever. The movie chronicles her daughter's search, along with a journalist, to learn about the mother she never knew.
Ninety minutes on the origins of the so-called HeLa cell line sound about as dramatically inviting as a teeth-cleaning. But Winfrey's performance, as Henrietta's tormented youngest daughter, Deborah, is jump-off-the-screen terrific.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has a vision that is as richly loving as it is clear-eyed about the racist sins that continue to dog us as a culture and a nation.
Winfrey delivers a performance that's on another level. It can be challenging, even when she's convincing in a film or on a series, to forget that we're watching Oprah. But as Deborah Lacks... Oprah Winfrey completely disappears.
The idea behind The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was honorable and no doubt brought a very powerful story to the surface, but it touched base without following through on many important aspects of her story.
If the film pushes Henrietta to the edges, it is at least to make room for a performance from Winfrey that tells us all there is to know about the damage that loss, lies and injustice can do to a child, to an adult, to a family and to a society.
Henrietta Lacks achieved a kind of immortality after her death. But Skloot's book and, now, this gripping film adaptation will ensure that the world knows who she was.
