When nine-year-old Rob Cole felt the life force slipping from his mother's hand he could not foresee that this terrifying awareness of impending death was a gift that would lead him from the familiar life of 11th-century London to small villages throughout England and finally to the medical school at Ispahan. Though apprenticed to an itinerant barber surgeon, it is the dazzling surgery of a Jewish physician trained by the legendary Persian physician Avicenna that inspires him to accept his gift and to commit his life to healing by studying at Avicenna's school. Despite the ban on Christian students, Rob goes there, disguising himself as a Jew to gain admission. Gordon has written an adventurous and inspiring tale of a quest for medical knowledge pursued in a violent world full of superstition and prejudice.

If you have not read the book (like me) you will probably not be disappointed, otherwise you should probably read the review of somebody who read the book before.

This movie had a lot going for it: beautiful scenery (and a likewise beautiful Emma Rigby), credibility and oriental charisma. It was educative about the founding days of modern medicine/surgery and very nicely crafted overall. Ben Kingsley was grand as usual and the other cast was very convincing as well.

There are not a lot of negative aspects I can find here. Some parts in the late first half of the movie are not very suspenseful but it picks up very nicely from then on.

Another small issue for me was that there were a few too many saved-at- the-very-last-moment scenes (not as many as in The Hobbit II, which was a great movie anyways)

I just hope that this movie is as successful as it deserves to be (which I am not sure about since there were only 4 other people attending the Friday afternoon show in my hometown).

Great movie. I recommend it highly!