The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The film is torn between assigning drama to Deborah’s unquantifiable emotional needs and the easily tracked progress of Skloot’s book. While Deborah seeks closure, Skloot seeks publishing, and though the link between the two is clear and necessary, we simply don’t care that much about a book being written when Deborah’s anguish is realized by Winfrey with such passion.

It’s often hokey and overstated, with Winfrey giving a broad, showy performance. By the end, you get the idea that Henrietta Lacks was very important, but as a person, she remains distant.

It’s a role that could fall into caricature, but Ms. Winfrey brings vulnerability and believability to the part. Henrietta Lacks also benefits from a strong supporting cast. ... The film, directed by George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”), stumbles most profoundly in the way it wraps up. The conclusion to the 90-minute film comes too quickly with an abrupt shift in tone.

Nothing feels invested in long enough to register because the narrative is constantly jumping around, almost as if it’s scared there’s not enough story here to carry a film. Thank God for great casting. Winfrey is typically fantastic.

The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks is too sentimental for its own good. It’s not really fair to compare a film to its original source material--books and movies are different mediums with different strengths--but it’s hard not to rue what’s lost in this version, which skimps over both the science and the relationships that form the heart of Skloot’s book. At least Winfrey’s performance brings Deb to boisterous, believable life.

Winfrey’s performance as Deborah gives The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks its one bit of genuine brilliance. ... Beyond Winfrey, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has the markings of a standard TV movie, though there’s a clear mismatch between form and content.

With the exception of Renée Elise Goldsberry--who gives a half-saintly, half-corporeal dignity to Henrietta herself in a few brief flashback scenes--director and cowriter George C. Wolfe, a terrific theater artist, seems to have instructed Winfrey, Byrne and the rest of the cast to play to some nonexistent rafters. And this only pays off twice.

Watch the film for a well acted Cliffs Notes version of the book--intriguing and thought provoking, but also frustrating.

The story of Henrietta Lacks is too big to be compressed into 90 minutes. And though it's made with all the good intentions in the world, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks feels rushed and cramped.