"Hidden Figures" Review - Behind the Green Lit Curtain

Well “Hidden Figures” definitely lived up to the name, “surprise hit”. This movie is fantastic. Any inspiring story like this is of course bound to be wonderful, but there were more reasons why I liked it than I thought there would be.

The cast is fantastic with the exception of Jim Parsons, who basically is just playing a more racist Sheldon Cooper. The three main all stars, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, and especially Taraji P. Henson, were just terrific in every way possible. I have just loved how Henson has grown as an actress, and has come out of that “Empire” shell that has eclipsed her for such a long time.

The film is directed in a regular fashion, and is not necessarily a cinematic achievement like Moonlight, Hacksaw Ridge, or La La Land,. But what makes up for the lack of cinematic storytelling is it’s literate storytelling. The script wastes no time on nonsense scenes, and each main African American female gets a great amount of screen time that makes every female lead lovable and relatable in a remarkable way. What’s also great about the script is it’s focus on feminism, not racism. It doesn’t hammer scenes in your face to show that the 1960s were a terrible time for black people (even though of course it was), but it rather takes the time to show how incredible the female power was in NASA and how it bubbled up to the point where it got John Glenn into space. It felt like how Hairspray was in 2007, which is what I wanted exactly.

In the end, a very inspiring and uplifting story that this movie truly did justice for. If I had to redo my top 10 list of 2016, I’d probably put Hidden Figures in the #10 spot just behind Zootopia. I’m sure most of you have seen it already, but if not, well then get on with it.

Two Nebs Up!