IN CINEMAS | 'Hidden Figures' Film Review
Based on a true story, 'Hidden Figures' follows three African-American women who become the brains behind launching John Glenn into space.
Set in the early 1960s, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) are members of a group of ‘human computers’ at NASA, performing essential calculations needed to keep the space program up and running. Pressure rises with the United States in a race with the Soviet Union to launch a man into orbit. Meanwhile, the three women are each given a new role pivotal to getting the US into space.
Director, producer and co-writer Theodore Melfi (whose previous effort, 'St. Vincent', earned a Golden Globe nomination) has done a brilliant job at highlighting the struggles faced by the ladies – their gender, the colour of their skin and the fact that they are smarter than many of their male co-workers places them in a precarious position in the 1960s setting.
However, the brevity of such issues is cleverly mixed with good humour, much of it a result of Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, also nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in this film.
This biopic comes to life with a wonderful cast of lead and supporting actors. Henson shines as aerospace technologist Katherine Johnson; Spencer is wonderful as mathematician-turned-programmer Dorothy Vaughn; and singer Monáe puts on a superb performance as engineer Mary Jackson – you would never consider her to be a newcomer to the screen!
Further to that, each member of the supporting cast, including Kevin Costner, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali and Kirsten Dunst are simply terrific in each of their roles. Perfect casting all-round.
The Pharrell Williams-produced soundtrack also gives 'Hidden Figures' some additional spirit. Its mix of 60's sounds by artists such as Ray Charles, Miles Davis and The Miracles, and new music written by Williams himself does everything to keep the viewer absolutely entranced throughout.
Nominated for three Academy Awards, including the highly coveted Best Picture award, 'Hidden Figures' is not only entertaining, but thought-provoking to say the least. It holds a responsibility to engage the viewer in a history lesson about segregation and civil rights in 1960's United States, and does so without lecturing the audience or speaking down to its viewers.
'Hidden Figures' is released in cinemas Australia-wide on 16th February, and in the U.K. on 17th.
