'Despite what you may think, I have nothing against y'all.' 'I know, I know you probably believe that.'

Rating: 9/10 (15 April 2017)

Writers Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi have adapted Margot Lee Shetterly's book 'Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race ' for the screen and as directed by Theodore Melfi and a superlative cast, this film makes a major difference in the way both the space program and the ingenuity and intelligence of black women in the early days of NASA will now be forever viewed. It is a thrillingly believable film about the significance of black women producing miracles at NASA during the height of racial struggle.
The time is 1961, JFK was president, Martin Luther King Jr. was the man of attention in civil rights, and the rush to hurdle a man into space was central to America's thinking and desire. As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers", we follow these women as they quickly rose the ranks of NASA alongside many of history's greatest minds specifically tasked by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) with calculating the momentous launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, and guaranteeing his safe return. Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), and Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.
The men in the picture include Jim Parsons (thankfully stepping out of his Big Bang character), Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, as well as the white women in positions of power – Kirsten Dunst, Kimberly Quinn – all offer solid support. But this is a film about a time of transition in so many arenas, and visiting the realities of colored bathrooms, prejudice, and the fierce competition with Russia are well to remember. The film is not with out flaws (the musical score is not at all form the period, though is sounds well) and there is a little too much time spent on the social lives of these extraordinary women, but it is a film everyone should see – it is just that important to realize the major role black women played in the beginning of computers and the space program.