Hidden Figures (2017 Film) Review

Hidden Figures tells the story of three, african-american, mathematicians who had crucial parts in the Space Race of the late 50s, early 60s. It doesn't shy away from displaying the many difficulties of being an african-american in a time of being involved in one of Americas most underrated events, which I appreciated. The cast members include Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, and Jim Parsons.



Because rating systems are often unreliable, click here to the Kids-In-Mind Review. This is for parents, who want to see if it's inappropriate or not. I'll be including these to my reviews from now on.

Cast

The three leads, Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae do a spectacular job with their individual roles. There was no favorite of the trio for me. I'd be curious to find out if you had a particular person you were rooting for. I thought the quality of their acting is wonderful. They sell these challenges and they beautiful display the happier moments their characters experience. Even though they had different personalities, they all were fun and likable in their own way. Taraji P. Henson is the lead of the film even though th. Octavia Spencer is the wiser, but also more snappy part of the three and Janelle Monae is sassy engineer, who is very funny. Aside from the three leads, Kevin Costner is a supporting character and he is super. He has one of the best, if not the best scene in the film. He plays such a great role. I appreciate the support he gave to these woman. Kirsten Dunst didn't have a lot to do. I get that she was being discriminated as well for being a woman in such an important job, but I didn't necessarily find her to be a likable character. Same thing with Jim Parsons, although I didn't think that he was redeemed in the end.

Double Discrimination

After seeing the film, I thought the racism portrayed was a little extreme, but after doing some history research, I discovered that the level of racism portrayed in the film was tamer than it really was back in the day. I liked that the film was able to display that difficult subject without getting into the really disturbing details, which is what the world was really like. I thought the three actresses did a great job selling the difficulties of not only being women of a different color, but also being women in general. Even Kirsten Dunst's character was facing some of those trails, although I honestly couldn't be able to root for her character.

Being "First"

There's another message I liked in the film and that was the idea of being the first to do something like this. It was touched on multiple times and it really hit me emotionally, because it was so good. It can be scary being the first to do something like that, but not only are you the first person to do something, you're clearing a path for others to follow in your example and that was such a nice thing to have in the film. Janelle Monae had a fantastic speech in the film where she's in court, before the judge, and she gives that speech about that and it was such a great moment for that character and the film.

Oscar Chances

Now that we're nearing the conclusion, I wanted to have a section and that is Hidden Figures chances at the Oscars. The film has been nominated for three awards. Best Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actress, and Picture. I'm surprised that Octavia Spencer is the one getting the awards buzz. While her performance is unquestionably great, I would've given Taraji P. Henson the nomination for Best Actress, because her performance isn't a supporting one. But hey, I'm fine with Octavia Spencer getting the shoutouts. I'm going to check out the book from which this movie is based on, but if the movie is as good as the book, I'd say it's deserving of the award. But Best Picture? I liked Arrival a tad bit more than Hidden Figures, but if Hidden Figures takes the award, I won't be disappointed. I'd be a great win for diversity all around and I think that'd be great.

Grade/Should You See It?

Now should you see Hidden Figures? Yes, definitely. I don't believe they're showing it in 3D, so I don't have to tell you if you should see it in 3D or not. Should you see it in theaters? If you miss it in theaters, you're not missing that theatrical experience, but if you want to see it in cinemas, go. In simplicity, it's something you can wait till it's on iTunes, when it's available to buy or rent. As for my grade, which is a new thing I introduced with my Sing review, I give Hidden Figures an A-. A fantastic film that does a great job with its themes of racism and beating the odds. It's slow for little bit of the film, hence the minus, but overall the film is a great Oscar contender.

So that's my review for Hidden Figures. If you saw the film, what did you think of the film and what are your thoughts with my review? Do you think that Hidden Figures deserves its nominations? Write those thoughts in the comments section below as well as what you'd like to see me review. Thanks for reading, I'm the film fanatic, bye-bye.