[yasr_overall_rating]
An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s.
I was expecting an education and a human-interest story with HBO’s adaptation of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” And I was disappointed to find that it is more or less all human-interest with very little information about the HeLa cells themselves and what they’ve helped to accomplish in regard to medical research. I have not read the book by Rebecca Skloot in its entirety but I do know that a great chunk of the work is dedicated to the cells themselves and the ethical and racial concerns of how the cells were acquired and used. Much of the film is focused on the relationship between Henrietta Lacks’ family, particularly Deborah Lacks (Oprah Winfrey), and the freelance medical writer Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne) who wants the story of the woman behind the cells to be told, to be known worldwide. While the relationship between the Lacks family and Skloot is an important element of how the book came to fruition, the film at times feels like an exploitation of Deborah Lack’s mental illness.
Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer and a sample of her cells was taken without knowledge or permission. Henrietta’s cells helped create an immortal cell line (known as HeLa) which are cells that don’t die after a set number of cell divisions. HeLa cells have been used in various scientific and medical research experiments aiding vaccine creations, cancer and AIDS research, and gene mapping, just to name a few. Lacks’ family had never been informed of the sample taken from Henrietta or the research conducted using her cells; unaware of how famous her cells had become amongst the scientific community; until Rebecca Skloot entered the picture.
Skloot’s cause is noble, her fascination with HeLa goes beyond the science and desires the ultra-personal. And in the end, she was successful. She was able to tell the story of the cells and the woman behind them with help from the family, which was a difficult journey all on its own. Rose Byrne’s Rebecca Skloot is fresh-faced and full of wide-eyed innocence in HBO’s adaptation of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” Her naiveté is both endearing and irritating (mostly irritating). Oprah Winfrey as Deborah is fragile and neurotic. Her energy on screen is permeable. You find yourself feeling just as fragile and on edge. It’s truly unnerving. And while it could be said that Winfrey’s performance is on point, something feels off. Contrived. While I was watching this film the thought that constantly surfaced was, “This seems more suited for the stage than the screen.” From the performances to the flashback sequences, it all seemed better suited for theatre. And that’s when I noticed the director was George C. Wolfe and my “stage, not screen” feelings made sense.
This adaptation is fine. Just fine. But it deserves so much better. HBO’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” lacks a genuine feel, an authenticity, the magic that makes stories come to life. I want Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne to lift away, become non-existent in the film, but they are like lead. And it’s disappointing.
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