Hidden Figures (2016) B+
Rated PG
Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Glen Powell
Directed by Theodore Melfi
The Story:
In the race to beat the Russians into space, NASA was coming up short. Test after test was proving fruitless. Al Harrison (Costner) has ordered the first IBM computer, but it's taking forever to arrive and get installed. So he turns to the human computer section, and is sent Katherine Johnson (Henson) who can do computations better and faster than anyone else. Meanwhile Dorothy Vaughan (Spencer) can see the writing on the wall: with IBM on the way in, she and all the rest of the human computers are on their way out. Finally, Mary Jackson (Monae) is asked a simple question - why aren't you an engineer?
You guessed it, based on a true story.
Elevator pitch was probably The Right Stuff meets The Help.
Boiled down to the basic framework of the story, that's an apt description. The best part, those were both pretty good movies in their own right.
Hidden Figures doesn't let them down.
Johnson's story gets the most screen time, but the three stories interlock nicely together.
There is enough glimpse of life outside of NASA (as well as inside) that paint the Civil Rights portrayal as a whole without overshadowing what these ladies were all bringing collectively to the table in their own lives and to the history of NASA.
The cast is an amazing ensemble of talent...
however...
The casting of Jim Parsons struck me as odd.
I don't watch the show he is on, but I know enough about it and his character to know they annoy me.
So when he shows up here, it just felt more like stunt casting, let's give the comedy guy a serious role to show his range.
Meh.
However, you wanted to give me a character I didn't like, well, bravo, his casting sure helped.
:)
Aside from that though, inspiring stories, very well done by all involved.
Absolutely worth your time.
Final Grade: B+ / A- range.
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