Hidden Figures

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2017)

I saw this film advertised a good number of times, then of course it got the nominations during Awards Season, to be fair I was interested in seeing it before this acclaim, it looked like an interesting true-life story. Basically in 1961, African-American mathematician Katherine Goble (Empire's Taraji P. Henson) works for NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, as a "computer" in the segregated West Area Computers division, alongside her fellow African-American colleagues, aspiring engineer Mary Jackson (Moonlight's Janelle Monáe) and unofficial supervisor Dorothy Vaughan (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Octavia Spencer). The Russians have successfully launched a space satellite, pressure is increasing for American astronauts to be sent into space, white supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) assigns Katherine to assist the Space Task Group of Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), she is the first "coloured" woman in the team and in the building, with no bathrooms for coloured people. Katherine's new colleagues, especially head engineer Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), are initially dismissive and demeaning, meanwhile Dorothy is rejected by Mrs Mitchell to be officially promoted to supervisor, and Mary pursues an engineering degree after discovering a flaw in the experimental space capsule's heat shields. Katherine meets National Guard officer Jim Johnson (Moonlight's Mahershala Ali) at a barbecue, they are attracted to each other, she is disappointed when he is sceptical about women's mathematical abilities, for this he apologises, and they are ultimately married. Harrison invites his subordinates to solve a complex mathematical equation, he is impressed when Katherine steps forward, the Mercury 7 astronauts, including astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell), visit Langley, Glenn is courteous and gracious to the West Area Computers. Over time, Katherine becomes better acquainted with her colleagues, Harrison abolishes the bathroom segregation after Katherine explains how far she has to walk for a coloured bathroom, and Stafford, after initial objections, allows her to be included in meetings. Katherine creates an elaborate equation to guide the space capsule into a safe re-entry, but is forced to remove her name from all reports, they are solely credited to Stafford, meanwhile Mary goes to court for permission to attend night classes in an all-white school to obtain her engineering degree, the judge is convinced. Dorothy learns her co-workers could be replaced by the impending installation of an IBM 7090 electronic computer, she visits the room and successfully starts the machine, but she is scolded from a library, trying to borrow a book about FORTRAN (Formula Translation) from the whites-only section, Mrs Mitchell congratulates Dorothy on her work, but is unconvinced with her assurance that she treated her no differently because of her skin colour. After learning FORTRAN and training her West Area co- workers, Dorothy is officially promoted to supervise the Programming Department, the others are also transferred, Mrs Mitchell shows her new-found respect calling her by her surname. The final arrangements for John Glenn's launch are made, but Katherine is informed she is no longer needed at Space Task Group, she is being reassigned back to West Area Computers, her colleagues bid farewell giving her a pearl necklace, the only jewellery permitted with dress code. However, prior to the launch, discrepancies arise in the IBM 7090 calculations for the capsule's landing coordinates, Glenn requests Katherine be called in to check them, she hurriedly delivers the results to the control room, but the door is slammed in her face, but Harrison brings her in so she can relay the results. The launch is successful, but the space capsule has a warning light indicating a heat shield problem, Katherine suggests leaving the retro-rocket attached for reentry, this proves to be correct and Friendship 7 successfully lands in the ocean. Following the mission, the mathematicians are laid off and ultimately replaced by electronic computers, Katherine is reassigned to the Analysis and Computation Division, Dorothy continues to supervise the Programming Department, and Mary obtains her engineering degree. The epilogue tells that Katherine calculated the trajectories for the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 missions, in 2015 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Computational Research Facility at the Langley Research Center was named in her honour. Also starring Aldis Hodge as Levi Jackson, Kimberly Quinn as Ruth and Home Alone 3's Olek Krupa as Karl Zielinski. Henson has the brains, Spencer has the determination and Monáe has the eagerness, each of the three give great performances, as do Costner and Dunst in supporting roles. It is a fascinating story that deserves to be told, one that almost nobody but NASA would have known about until now, it is unbelievable how severe segregation was in those days, even just separating water or coffee for black people, it is disgusting, but this in a way adds to how compelling the story is, how perceptions through knowledge and fact can change, there is room for some humour as well, it is an enlightening unsung heroes tale, a most interesting biographical drama. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Adapted Screenplay, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch. Very good!