I’ve been a space supporter and advocate my whole life, yet I was completely unaware of this side of the space program.  Hidden Figures serves as an historical document as much as a mainstream entertainment, and it succeeds tremendously on both fronts.  While it is at times clumsy or obvious it is also pertinent, focused and eye-opening.  I found it to be full of vitality and easily one of the best films of the year.

Theodore Melfi’s film follows three young black women on their way to NASA in the late 1950s.  They are all mathematicians who will help put American astronauts into space.  Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) has already assumed the role of computer pool supervisor, although she is denied the title and pay of that position (women who computed the math were known as “computers”).  Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) has the finest mind among them and is soon assigned to the group working directly with the astronauts.  And Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) helps with wind tunnel figures but really wants to be an engineer.  Over the next few years, as Russia leaps ahead and the U. S. strives to catch and pass the communists into space, each of these women will experience history as it is made.

The space side of the story is very impressive.  The Langley facility in Hampton, VA, is run by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), a brilliant man who is a little slow on the uptake about people.  But his heart is in the right place and Katherine’s presence in his group teaches him, eventually, that a leader must lead, and others will follow.  The civil rights side of the story is simplistically presented yet dramatically sound; ultimately even the most reluctant of NASA employees learns to appreciate everyone’s contributions.  Even the personal sides of the story gain traction; Katherine finds love with a handsome Colonel (Mahershala Ali) while Mary and Dorothy try to balance hard, stressful work with family time.

As evidenced by the segregated facilities in Virginia and the attitudes of the white folk, the late ’50s and early ’60s were not kind to African-American workers, especially of the female persuasion.  Yet these and other trailblazing women helped push our country into the Space Age and in doing so changed our culture for the better.  Theodore Melfi’s film tells this tale of change and progress without resorting to racial epithets, violence or derogatory behavior; while this may be old-fashioned storytelling I found it to be decidedly refreshing considering the number of other contemporary films which seem to wallow in such elements.

Hidden Figures has been honored with three Academy Award nominations today.  Congratulations to Octavia Spencer (Supporting Actress), writers Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi (Adapted Screenplay) and the picture itself for those nominations.  I would have gone further.  Taraji P. Henson deserves an Actress nod, Janelle Monae a Supporting Actress nod (I thought she was even better than Octavia), Kevin Costner a Supporting Actor nod and Theodore Melfi a Director nod.  It’s that good of a film.  About the only element I didn’t care for was the music, which is anachronistic and distracting.  Hidden Figures (a bad pun title, if you ask me) is not a great film but it’s one of the year’s best, fully deserving of its box office and critical success.  Go see it!  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  24 January 2017.