Oscar bait about racism in the '60s, based on real people

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2017)

The movie is based on a book, but both were released in about the same time, so who can know for sure. It is the story of three very smart African-American women who got ahead at NASA, despite habitual and wide spread racism. It's not about the Moon shot, but the period right before, when Russians were still beating Americans in space and they were all frustrated about it, so the working conditions were tough.
The actors played very well and the story is based on real people at NASA. I doubt that they could have gotten away with too much dramatization when real people are involved, right? Yet considering the only of the three women who is still alive is 98 and that they went with the ole Oscar bait formula, I have my doubts. You know, take well known but faded actors and make them do character play, use foreshadowing for the most impactful moments in the movie, link the storyline not only to the American dream (both in space and in terms of getting out from under racism), but also with short jabs at "the American soul" and short references to Jews in Nazi Germany (but not on using Wernher von Braun for their rockets, of course).
It was a good movie, but the feel of it was off. It felt like the black women in this film had a modern mentality and reactions, rather than what I imagine would have been the negro state of mind in a country where toilets and bus seats were separated by color. But I haven't lived there and then and I may be wrong. Also the knight in shining armor that was played by Kevin Costner was so over the top that it just felt fake. Poor Jim Parsons was stuck playing a nasty racist bureaucrat, Kirsten Dunst was the nice but conservative lady... it was just too cardboard.
Bottom line: with less agenda and more science and inspiration it could have been great.