Space Race Relations..."Hidden Figures"

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.

My First Exposure To The Group And Their Music..."Straight Outta Compton"

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Rated R

Starring O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge, Paul Giamatti

Directed by F. Gary Gray

The Story:

The rise and fall of the rap group N.W.A. is chronicled in this autobiography about how they met Jerry Heller (Giamatti) and he signed them to a deal. Yet as the accolades and money came pouring in, dissension in the group between Ice Cube (Jackson Jr.) Dr. Dre (Hawkins) and Easy E (Mitchell) began to tear them apart.

I'm sure you can imagine that I have a ton of rap albums in my music catalog.

:)

No, but I can tell a good story when I see one, and everything I saw in the trailers led me to believe that this would be a good story.

I believed correctly.

Aside from Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, I had little knowledge of the group or their music. Though I do remember hearing about them in the news for all of their controversy and hate-filled lyrics towards the police.

After watching the film, and maybe even more so today with the news of police brutality on the rise, well, perhaps the boys weren't as incorrect as the public was led to believe.

But, the important thing to note, and it is stressed in the film, it wasn't an anthem to direct violence towards the police, it was supposed to be a wake up call about the violence the police were directing towards blacks.

Some great performances by the cast from top to bottom, but I'll start with the obvious, and as I watched O'Shea Jackson Jr., I kept thinking, man, he looks and sounds an awful lot like Ice Cube.

See, I told you I didn't know much about the group. So a quick visit to IMDB, and lo and behold, now I figured out why the resemblance was so strong.

That had to be cool for both son and father to get to see your life story up on screen, and it's your son bringing it to life.

It's a really solid movie from beginning to end, and you don't have to be a fan of the group to enjoy the ride.

Final Grade:  B+