The Actresses Shine While the Story Lacks

Rating: 6/10 (25 January 2017)

My first thoughts after seeing the trailer to Hidden Figures was to question its watchabliity. My second thought was that Hidden Figures may be just the opposite. It had a story that as the title describes is relatively unknown and deals with one of the most exciting times in history. On top of that is a great solution to a Hollywood problem, the lack of leading roles for women, especially ones of color. Hidden Figures provides 3 leading roles for women of color, but unfortunately focuses far too much on that aspect of the characters, and not enough on their actual accomplishments. Oh and that watchability thing, well that's a problem too.
The real truth is that the story underneath it all is pretty lackluster. These women were certainly achieved some great things in a world that wanted them to do the opposite, but movies do have to be entertaining. The plot is not driven by these women and them overcoming both racism and sexism, but by the space race and the countless amounts of white men who benefited from it. The amount of scenes showing the women being treated like trash almost double the ones that show them succeeding. Race and sexism should certainly be part of this story, but it took over most of the movie which is disappointing.
The best thing about Hidden Figures are the three leads. Octavia Spencer plays Dorothy Vaughan and she fits into the supporting role perfectly. I don't want to call her a motherly figure, but she takes control a few times on the movie and it's great to see Ms. Spencer getting awards looks again. Janelle Monáe plays Mary Jackson and has the difficult task of acting alongside two fantastic actresses. She brings a lot of character to Jackson, but feels flat compared to her co stars. The real jewel here is the performance of Taraji P. Henson as Katherine G. Johnson. Henson lights up the screen, and even though she is normally known as a bit of an over the top actress she brings subtlety to the role. She gets her moments to go all out and boy does she use them, another possible awards candidate and Ms. Henson's finest performance yet.
Hidden Figures will probably have a few Oscar noms by the time all is said and done, and while it is more deserving than movies like Hacksaw Ridge and Birth of a Nation, it does not deserve to be in the same category as Moonlight and La La Land. While watching Hidden Figures I was reminded of Loving, not because racial tensions drive both movies, but because they both have the same nagging issue, they are stories that are just not fit for movies. I would much rather watch a documentary on either the story of the Lovings or the women featured in Hidden Figures. At least I would gain some historical knowledge rather than being made to feel bad because people with the same color skin as me were assholes 60 years ago. Hidden Figures is not a bad movie, it just wants to be something its not, and that is never a good way to make a movie.