Box Office Success

Rating: 7/10 (6 March 2017)

As someone who knows about Fortran, computer punch cards, and the plastic model of the Mercury spacecraft, I have a personal appreciation for the primitive technology used to successfully complete John Glenn's first manned orbit around the Earth. But the important role three African American mathematicians, Katherine G. Johnston (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) played in the space program was an eye opener. The story takes place against the background of sixties racial policies which were civil yet still discriminatory. Kevin Costner (Al Harrison) is well suited for his role as both the leader of NASA's mathematics team and the champion of racial equality but Jim Parsons (Paul Stafford) and Kirsten Dunst (Vivian Michell) add little more than star power to their middle management characters. This Oscar nominated movie is a box office success because it is both an entertaining story and a contribution to popular American culture.