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 36 wins & 91 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 | space program | segregation | racism | nasa | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Octavia Spencer appeared with Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory: The Euclid Alternative (2008).

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Goofs

The women are shown as commuting daily between Hampton, Virginia and Langley. Their commute was NASA Langley Research Center, located at Langley Air Force Base, which is located in Hampton. The name Langley sometimes leads to confusion with the part of McLean, Virginia known as Langley, which is nearly 200 miles North of Hampton.

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Quotes

Al Harrison: Here at NASA we all pee the same color.

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Connections

Featured in Film 2018: Episode #46.1 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Higher Ground
Written by Johnson (Rev.) Oatman, Jr. and Charles Gabriel
Vocal Arrangement by Edie Lehmann Boddicker

User Reviews

Heartening and disheartening all at the same time.

Disheartening because of the horrible racial prejudice shown - hard to believe that things were like they were. Heartening because of the undoubted success these three women made of their lives, and of course they are a representation of what countless others did.

My one criticism of the film is that I find it hard to believe that some of the situations presented actually happened. Did the Costner character really not see the kettle marked "coloured"? Was it really a trek to the bathroom?

But this can only be a minor criticism and surely represent the prevailing attitudes of the days in parts of the USA - and lets be honest still in existence in many other parts of the world today. In this sense the film is a salutary reminder of how insidious prejudice can be.

An entertaining, moving and sobering film.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

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:

$236,225,193

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