Monday, January 17, 2011

A movie review: Gifted Hands, the Ben Carson Story



Oscar® winner Cuba Gooding Jr., stars in this true story, Gifted Hands, about a renowned brain surgeon who overcame obstacles to change the course of medicine forever.
Young Ben Carson didn't have much of a chance. Growing up in a broken home amongst poverty and prejudice, his grades suffered and his temper flared. And yet, his mother (Kimberly Elise) never lost her faith in him. Insisting he follow the opportunities she never had, she helped to grow his imagination, intelligence and, most importantly, his belief in himself. That faith would be his gift, the thing that would drive him to follow his dream of becoming one of the world's leading neurosurgeons.


This was an excellent movie to watch with my boys. A few summers ago, a friend had passed around the book and we loved it. I had forgotten many of the details, but since Random and Paperboy have a better memory than I, they could predict some scenes. From what I remember, it remained true to the book. I felt it did an excellent job showing the emotions that young Ben had during key times in his life. I consider it a must see movie, a five star film, a gem because it kept me awake for the whole movie. I only closed my eyes during the surgery scenes, seeing blood does queasy things to my stomach.


This movie did something to Random that all of our lectures could never have done. He acknowledged the importance of a great education and how it must be aimed for. He applauded the mother for her strict standards and change of heart. She had became intentional with her parenting. I guess you could say her child training was not like our homeschooling adventure, an accident. It has given all of us some things to ponder. As I was tucking in Random, we prayed about this and I believe God will continue using this man's example to touch our lives.


Have you seen a movie that has had an impact on your family? Or even one that was so well made that you stayed awake through the whole thing? 


If you haven't had a chance to watch this movie, I recommended getting the book by the same title first. You won't be disappointed. 


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I welcome reader comments with open arms. I also understand if you aren't the commenting or hugging type of person, you can drop me an email at accidentallyhomeschooling@gmail.com.

5 comments:

Mama Know Best said...

I absolutely LOVED that movie, I saw it about a year ago for the first time after my brother actually met Ben Carson and raved about him so much. Awesome,awesome movie...thanks for reviewing it and bringing back fond memories about it.

Laurie said...

I love the movie and the book!

We recently watched Memphis Belle. I was surprised how much my boys got from this movie- we were talking the next day about consequences, and they immediately jumped to the movie and what would have happened if the team of bomber planes in the movie had taken the "easy way out" and dropped their bombs when they could not see clearly. I was impressed by the connections that my boys made! I love an inspiring movie.

Jessica said...

My husband and I read the book many years ago. That's great that they made a movie too. We'll have to read it again with our son when we finish our current family reading book.

Thanks for sharing!

{LyndsD} said...

That movie is a fav in our house!! Love love love that movie. His story. The whole bit. :) Visiting from the HHH

Anita said...

Stopped by from the Hip Homeschool Hop. My 14 year old son requested the movie for Christmas after we watched it from Netflix. I also got him the book. He was very inspired by both!