Hidden Figures (2016)

The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

Director:

Theodore Melfi

Writers:

Allison Schroeder (screenplay by), Theodore Melfi (screenplay by)

Stars:

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 37 wins & 84 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Taraji P. Henson	...	Katherine G. Johnson
Octavia Spencer	...	Dorothy Vaughan
Janelle Monáe	...	Mary Jackson
Kevin Costner	...	Al Harrison
Kirsten Dunst	...	Vivian Mitchell
Jim Parsons	...	Paul Stafford
Mahershala Ali	...	Colonel Jim Johnson
Aldis Hodge	...	Levi Jackson
Glen Powell	...	John Glenn
Kimberly Quinn	...	Ruth
Olek Krupa	...	Karl Zielinski
Kurt Krause	...	Sam Turner
Ken Strunk	...	Jim Webb
Lidya Jewett	...	Young Katherine Coleman
Donna Biscoe	...	Mrs. Joylette Coleman

Storyline

As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers", we follow these women as they quickly rose the ranks of NASA alongside many of history's greatest minds specifically tasked with calculating the momentous launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, and guaranteeing his safe return. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Gobels Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.

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Plot Keywords:

1960s | nasa | space program | segregation | african american | 

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Taglines:

Genius has no race. Strength has no gender. Courage has no limit.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hidden Figures

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$515,499, 25 December 2016

Gross USA:

$169,607,287

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$235,956,898

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Chernin Entertainment, Levantine Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (DTS: X) Auro 11.1 SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White (some sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All of Katherine Johnson's children were actually teenagers at the time of her marriage to Jim Johnson.

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Goofs

Shots of Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center show the crawler tracks to Launch Complex 39. LC 39 was constructed for launch of the Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo spacecraft to the moon. Construction on LC 39 didn't begin until 1962 whereas the Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and John Glenn launches were in 1961 and early 1962. The crawler path would not have been created yet. Furthermore, the Vehicle Assembly Building would not have existed yet, either.

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Quotes

Dorothy Vaughan: [Repeated line to the IBM computer as she gets it to work] Atta girl.

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Connections

Referenced in Good Morning Britain: Episode dated 24 January 2017 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Have A Good Time
Written by Boudleaux Bryant and Felice Bryant
Performed by Ruth Brown
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film and TV Licensing

User Reviews

Major Feel-Good Movie, just gets better as it goes along

In the opinion of this reviewer, an extraordinary achievement.

The characters on which the film is based were special and unique on their own, and well deserving of the sort of semi-documentary films that Hollywood likes to serve up.

However, to take that story and bump it up to a major "feel-good film" that engages the viewer from the getgo and does not let up until the very end of its 2 hour and 5 minute running time, THAT is what elevates this project to greatness.

I want to be clear on this because it is important. There are two ways to do a feel-good film. One is (ironically!) by the numbers, using proved plot arcs and other script devices to make it work. An example of this for example is the latest Disney release MOANA which has taken some heat from critics for being derivative and not original. But that, you see, is the tried and true method to achieve the effect that the producers wanted. And it works.

The other way to make a film engaging and fun is to use your instincts and your actors to get the most from each scene. No rule book, no fixed way of doing a scene, just doing what works. This is, I believe the way that writer/director Theodore Melfi set out to do Hidden Figures, and boy did he pull it off! The acting is stellar. Costner has matured in his latest film roles and his work here is as far from the nonsense he used to do (like the dreaded Robin Hood) as the earth is from the sun.

Taraji P. Henson finally lands a great role, the kind of role she was looking for when she left the hit series Person of Interest a tad early.

And every good film or TV series needs a character who is "the glue" or a reference point that the viewer can use, like a compass needle, to see where we are in the main story. Here Octavia Spencer gives the performance of her life as that "glue" and helps the director to pace the film.

Highly recommended.