Hidden Figures

One scene from Fantastic Four has the future Doctor Doom moan how the astronauts got all the glory for their space adventures and the scientists who helped them got zilch. While this isn't true (hi, Wernher von Braun), we now have a movie to acknowledge three such scientists' achievements. This is the film of Margot Lee Shetterly's nonfiction book, Hidden Figures, a compelling story of how math figured into the space race.

Anyway...

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), then Goble, is a NASA mathematician along with Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer). As they are African-American women in 1961, their achievements go unnoticed in the midst of segregation. Katherine is selected to join the Space Task Group to assist their calculations. Her calculations are miles above those of stuffy genius Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) and impress manager Al Harrison (Kevin Costner). But Katherine still feels out of place in an office of white men; especially since the nearest segregated bathroom is a half-mile away.

Meanwhile, Dorothy finds herself roadblocked when she tries for a promotion. She proves herself when she works NASA's new IBM machine when the other scientists can't. Mary fights for the right to attend night classes at a segregated school to get a engineer position. Katherine meets her future husband, Col. Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali), and helps the Space Task Group launch John Glenn into space and back.

Director Theodore Melfi adapted the screenplay with co-writer Allison Schroeder. Its best part is how it manages the story arcs for its three main characters. Their struggles are given equal importance to the plot and its historic resolution. The three spend their first scene together with car trouble and their dialogue introduces their personalities. We see through them how segregation laws were not just immoral, but impractical, especially when it involves a bathroom.

The characters are a winning ensemble. Taraji P. Henson, as Katherine, is a perfectly introverted genius. Her math skills are outstanding and her romance with Col. Johnson is endearing. Dorothy gets things done and when she's roadblocked, she does it. A segregated library won't let her borrow a FORTRAN manual? She "borrows" it. Mary has a great sense of humor and her legal struggle is compelling. Costner and Parsons are also good as is Kirsten Dunst as Dorothy's condescending supervisor. Mahershala Ali is just as likable here as he is in Moonlight.

The technical crew also deserve acknowledgement. Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch punctuate the film with strong instrumentals and catchy tunes. Editor Peter Teschner balances the comedy and drama just nicely. The production, sound and costume designs were good and the visual effects were nice. The only problem was either with Mandy Walker's cinematography or the projector; the color quality sometimes changed during scenes.

Hidden Figures is a great acknowledgement to the scientists who helped the space race. It also shows how it wouldn't have worked if the most-qualified were kept away. Hopefully, it will inspire people to acknowledge the main characters and others in their field beyond Oscar season. It's sure to show up when the nominations are announced in T-Minus 10 Days.