Very heavy handed with its message, yet lacks weight

Rating: 5/10 (28 December 2016)

There is a subplot in the film where Katherine disappears for 40 minutes every day from her desk at NASA to use a bathroom in a different building, because in segregation-America, there are no facilities for her in her building. When this comes to light, her Boss finds that Katherine has also been forced to use a different coffee jug from her white colleagues. There is then a moment where he removes the label from Katherine's jug used to indicate her race and glares round at her ashamed coworkers. I thought 'at last - some subtlety and intelligence of dramatic touch. Everyone knows what he means removing the label and glaring at them - no more segregation in the building.' Unfortunately, the next scene, this same Boss smashes the segregationist sign off the women's toilets with a double-handed lump hammer. I feel this is an apt metaphor for how the film treats its message.
This is a common problem for films which have a message, whether its about racism or sexism embedded in every day interactions, or the blight of poverty or whatever - they often underestimate the awareness, compassion and intelligence of the audience. I'm reminded here in the UK of films such as Made In Dagenham or Suffragette.
Obviously, unless you suffered racial prejudice in a segregated country, you can never know what that was like. But then - how do you bring in as wide an audience as possible? A much better approach to this story would have been to focus on the theme. The theme here, surely, is overcoming daunting odds. Everyone, to differing degrees, can relate to it. So it's strange that I cannot remember any of the characters going through any truly dark moments of self-doubt, or doubt that a more equal society will come forth. For the most part of the film, it seems, a sassy remark and a cheeky smile is enough to turn round the main characters' fortunes in each and every scene - yet it must have been far harder for the real women this story is based on.
Levity vs Poignancy. It's a difficult balance for the writers, who do at least a good job of injecting humour throughout. Yet much of this humour seems artificial and Mr Melfi would have done better if he had trusted both the story and the audience much more.
Full marks, however, for discovering this piece of history. I am always intrigued by finds such as this. For example, I would love to see a biopic of Noor Inayat Khan. I hope when they do this, though, they really take more time over the script than is evident in Hidden Figures.