Some History Forgotten

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2017)

There are a few areas to this review, so please let me start of with the technical aspect.
There is a good look to the film and Mandy Walker makes good use of symmetrical frame in most of the shots which helps to create a good bond with the viewer. At times there is a lack of consistency with relation to different shot angles being used in the edit, and poor judgement during the rehearsal and filming phase of the project leaves you wondering if there was a continuity department on set at all.
D.C. Cardinali and Ray Ruotolo, did a wonderful job to make the film look good, with some fantastic vignette effects to draw the viewer in, although there is a scene when the entire family is sitting at the table and Colonel Jim asks Katherine to marry him, sadly his shirt has several shades of red and at times pink throughout the scene. I can only presume this was bad judgement during discussions with wardrobe, but this should have been addressed during the scene itself.
As for the film:
There is no denying that Henson, Spencer and Monae, along with Costner gave some outstanding stellar performances, this is not in question, but there are some areas of the film which must be highlighted and not for any good reason.
Janelle Monae, has just been assigned to Engineering when she gets stuck as one of the tests regarding the Freedom capsule is about to take place, she finally frees herself and after a failed test, the head of engineering advised her that she should become an engineer due to the methodical mind. This was said by the Jewish WWII POW who had been brought over to the USA after the war. Throughout there was no mention to the large number of Nazi's brought over to help on the space programme, many of which included scientists who carried out horrific experiments on other humans to see how far the extremities could be pushed. I can only presume this was not mentioned due to this being a feel good film, however it loses marks for this.
It is sad to think that the segregation of humans with different coloured skin to such a barbaric extent was just over 50 years ago, and in some instances still continues. In one scene we see Costner knock down a sign over a bathroom which read 'Colored Ladies Toilets' due to Taraji taking 40 minutes to go to a bathroom halfway across the NASA grounds. Yes it felt nice, but there was little explanation and it did feel like this was done more to ensure time wasn't wasted so USA could been USSR to the Moon, rather than for any kind of anti racist motion.
The end of the film saw titles explaining what each person did throughout their life, but Taraji, who played Katherine Johnson had titles which explained NASA has awarded her in 2016 for all her commitment, all to wonderful music being played in the background. I'm sorry, are we making light of ignoring someone for nearly 50 years, but hey it's on the big screen now, so it's all good? I thought this was in poor taste and should have been thought through in more detail.
Is this a good film? Yes, it's okay, it is a bit fluffy in areas and lacks any real conviction of that era - especially relating to racism. Don't expect to be bowled over, but do expect to leave feeling there are a few good human beings out there.