(Only a short review today due to the fact that I'm currently working on a different review at the moment)
Hidden Figures tells
the true story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three
African-American women who worked for NASA in the 60’s. In a time of heavy
segregation, each of these three women made major advancements in their careers
as they helped America during the intense ‘Space Race’ between the U.S. and
Russia. Specifically, they helped John Glenn become the first American astronaut
to orbit the Earth. Admittedly, there’s not much that I can say about this
film, hence why this review is so short. It’s just an enjoyable and solidly-made
film that highlights some unsung heroes from a time in U.S. history that was
dominated by racism and prejudice. It features some solid music from Hans Zimmer
as well as some nice tunes from Pharrell Williams, who also serves as one of
the film’s producers. But, through it all, the key to this film’s success is
the lead trio of Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe. These three very much
succeed in making Johnson, Vaughan, and Jackson an endearing trio of women, so
much so that the moments where they achieve some form of success are incredibly
satisfying; Johnson became a key contributor to calculating the numbers behind
Glenn’s launch, Vaughan became the primary supervisor in charge of the
programming and maintenance of NASA’s new IBM computers, and Jackson
successfully petitioned for the right to attend classes at the University of
Virginia to further her career as an engineer. Backed by an equally solid
supporting cast that includes Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, and Mahershala Ali,
Hidden Figures is not only a highly appealing
crowd-pleaser but also one of significant cultural relevance. Because, again,
this is a story about three African-American women overcoming all sorts of odds
in a time when most underestimated them.
Rating: 4/5
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