Fetal surgery expert Dr. Ben Carson’s 1990 autobiography “Gifted Hands” inspired the 2009 eponymous biopic, “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story.”
The film, though, is important not so much for what it says about the man he was, a gifted surgeon who cared about children; there are more than a few of those. It’s more important for what it says about the man he was to become: an outspoken critic of abortion. Unlike many other scientists, Dr. Carson admits that all life, not just scientific knowledge and skill, is a gift.
The Biopic
In the film, pre-teen Ben Carson (Jaishon Fisher, then Gus Hoffman) and his older brother, Curtis (Tajh Bellow, then Gregory Dockery II), are brought up by their illiterate, single mother, Sonya (Kimberly Elise), in 1960s Michigan. Forced to leave her unfaithful, drug-dealing husband, she transforms her slacking schoolboys into fine men by instilling in them a love of reading and learning.
