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.

"Bachelorette": Nothing Worse Than A Humorless Comedy.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should...

The Story:

Becky (Rebel Wilson) is getting married.  Much to the dismay of her best friend Regan (Kirsten Dunst) who thought she would be going down the aisle first.  Regan becomes the Maid of Honor and spends the next six months organizing the wedding.  The movie mostly takes place at the night before the wedding when all of the bridesmaids are in town, including the girls other two friends, Gena and Katie (Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher).  The three insult Becky by mistake, destroy her dress, and then spend a wild night of drugs, alcohol and stupidity trying to fix everything in time for the wedding the next morning.

Man, with friends like that...

First, the school of thought was, if the guys can have a raunchy rated R comedy, why can't girls? 
Thus, we were blessed to receive Bridesmaids, which was amusing, but not hilariously funny.
Though when put in comparison to this film, it was downright hysterical.

Nope, apparently Leslye Headland who wrote it, directed it, and based it off a play, thought her stuff was funny with a capital F.

Having ladies spew obscenities, walk around getting wasted and having sex with anyone they please isn't funny. 

And to be fair, it's not funny when guys do it either.

Unless...

The dialogue is off-the-wall insanely hilarious.

Which it isn't.

Much to the waste of these great actresses, Rebel Wilson who I found hilarious in Pitch Perfect, Kirsten Dunst who was wrong as Mary Jane Watson, but otherwise acquits herself nicely in most anything, and Isla Fisher who was great in Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Here, all that talent was wasted spewing obscenities, snorting coke, or just behaving awful.

Even the always terrific Adam Scott can't rise above the material, though he is about the only bright spot in the movie (other than Rebel Wilson).  Go figure that the two characters that have the most heart and sincerity in the entire film are the bride who is barely used and the ex-boyfriend of one of the female leads.

James Marsden is also wasted in his role as the best man.

So much talent... so wrongly executed.

Now available to steam (typo, but I'm leaving it!) instantly on Netflix.

Final Grade: D+
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Never in a million years...