terrible... so disappointed.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

When I saw the only other user review so far was negative I couldn't resist writing one of my own. This a powerful story, and I disagree with the other reviewer both about its alleged pointlessness but also that it should have been set entirely in the context of Henrietta's life. This story isn't just about her; it's about what they took form her, and how she died, and how the medical world cloned her cells and used them to fix and fight all kinds of problems while in contrast she herself died of cancer and the hole that her absence left in her family's life. It's about the heartbreak her family has to live with everyday, without her, in a world full of people who (for the most part) seem more interested in making money from her than who she was or what she left behind. I'm even more desperate to get my hands on the book now than I was when I saw the trailer and I am extremely disappointed that I didn't find it on the shelves of my local book stores and that I will be forced to order it online. I can't wait to delve into this story further and get further immersed in the details of it; I know movies (especially ones based on books) are frequently disappointing and too often pressed into the same stereotypical molds, so I am eager to see how the story unfolds in the book.

My friend started a Movie Club. On Sundays, one of us posts movie that we all should see during following week and on next Sunday we discuss it and choose next movie. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is biography drama made for television with Oprah in leading role. Definitely not my cup of tea. But to avoid being party-breaker at the very beginning of the movie club I sat to see it. Honestly, I was bored.During '50s, cells of anonymous Afro-american woman who was dying of cancer made revolutionary breakthrough in medicine. Half century later, journalist Rebecca Skloot decides to write book about HELA cells, Henrietta Lacks, woman whose cells are in question, her life and family. If I understood correctly, this movie is adaptation of that book.Movie follows Rebecca during her research for the book and her relations with Henrietta's children, with lots of flashbacks on this family's past. Past full of drama, emotional trauma and mental illness. But there's almost nothing about HELA cells and their application in modern medicine. Technically speaking movie is solid and I have no objections. Oprah nailed the role of Henrietta's daughter Deborah. But honestly, I do not see the point of making this movie, except to set up a stage for Oprah, who besides leading role is also producer of this film, to show her remarkable acting skills. Biography dramas usually present lives of people whose achievements left mark in history. They bring us closer to their lives and personality and show us how they came to get into history. Henrietta Lacks as person didn't do anything worthy of biography drama. Incidentally, her body produced something that made breakthrough in medicine, but I don't see how it is her merit and what her children and their family drama have to do with HELA cells and research. As family and as individuals these people are completely irrelevant for history and I have no idea why would anybody write about them.6/10

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.

The details of Henrietta Lacks' contributions to medicine are not the focus of this movie. It is the Lacks family, their struggles and the one enduring element in their lives that they could have been proudest of -- the stem cell research that the mother left to the world. Oprah's performance is transcendent. It elevates the movie the way great portrayals can. And while we miss the science as important as it is, perhaps the story told here will motivate those who see the movie to read the book. It did me.