Some pretty good moments, but the desperate attempts to make race a subject hurt the film very much

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2017)

"Hidden Figures" (the ugly N-word that rhymes with it can really only be a coincidence, right?) is an American movie in the English language from 2016. It was written and directed by Theodore Melfi and the original book this is based on is by Margot Lee Shetterly. With an SAG ensemble win and a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, besides a great deal of other recognition, this is certainly one of the biggest players this awards season. The cast includes several established actors and actresses, even Oscar winners, but also people who are pretty much new to acting like musician Janella Monáe playing one of the central characters. This film is set during the days of space exploration. Who'd be first in space? Who'd be first on the moon? All these are central issues here. But it is also about racial inequality back in the 1960s and we find out a bit about how Black people were discriminated against at that point. But to say "a bit" is definitely a major understatement here as half of the film is really about this subject and the way she has to run to the toilet across the whole campus (as shocking as it may be) stops being funny quickly and just becomes repetitive. There are more sequences like these. Actually, the characters of Monáe and Spencer pretty much only existed to depict this lack of equality.
In my opinion, it would have been perfectly fine if they had included some moments that put an emphasis on the entire subject, but the way it is clearly overdone eventually hurts the film. Still, on a more positive note, it is still entertaining, even if it is not informative or touching or anything else. This film is longer than two hours and for this runtime, it drags surprisingly little, maybe not at all even. Henson is certainly the MVP in here, even if I liked Costner as well and the role fit him perfectly. As for Henson, a lot of how memorable she was probably has to do with her costumes and how the character was written, but she also gives a pretty good performance and I would not have minded her getting an Oscar nomination. Spencer got one though and it is at least as undeserving as her win for "The Help". Yes she is really fitting for portraying likable headstrong characters, who are certainly different compared to the average Black woman back then, but I am yet to see a performance from her where she at least slightly impresses me at times. Same can be said about Jim Parsons. One of the biggest stars on television for a long time, his transition to the big screen is looking more than just bumpy. Admittedly, he also had very little to work with here. As for the ending, I did not really like it that much when they make it such a drama if the astronaut would live or not as everybody knew he would because otherwise the whole film would have made hardly any sense at all if Henson's character had failed with her calculations. Also the part with the young White girls looking at and listening to Spencer's character is a bit cringeworthy. I still believe that a good film on the subject of race and discrimination manages to depict Black people (or any other minority) as a group that is as gifted, as smart and as talented as Whites, but not that they are better all the time and certainly not from start to finish. Anyway, I am not too surprised awards bodies liked this one as much. With the success here and the one of "Moonlight" and "Fences" at least nobody can complain about lack of diversity because the likes of Hispanics, Asian Americans and other minorities are not that vocal (gently-speaking) about this subject. Or they understand that they have to deliver something that is among the best of the year to be considered best of the year. As for this film, there is nothing really that I would consider best-of-the-year material, even if some moments and ideas were pretty smart and interesting too watch (like the way technology beats the human mind). I recommend this film, but not very enthusiastically because of all its weaknesses. More of a guilty pleasure film than something that really offers great depth and stunning art.