Hidden Figures
2.5/5
Directed by: Theodore Melfi
Hidden Figures is based on the true stories of Katharine G. Johnson (Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Monae). The three of them worked for NASA during the 1960's. The main story is strongly centered around Katharine, her early work as a computer, and the daily prejudice she had to endure. One of Katharine's most famous contributions to NASA and history were her calculations of John Glenn's launch and landing for his orbit around Earth, which is featured in this movie. The other two girls on the poster are not shown as much, and are considerably unimportant to the plot line of the narrative. While the two of them made great strides in U.S. history, neither of them is given a worthwhile amount of screen time.
The screenplay works well for this movie. It is occasionally funny, often repetitive, and every now and then insightful. It, however, is not entirely accurate to the state of historic events. It is common for biopics to bend audiences' perceptions of historical events for the sake of dramatic narrative. Hidden Figures, however, centers the majority of its dramatic moments around events that did not happen. For example, the movie features Katharine leaving her desk during the day to use the colored restrooms, which are on the other side of the facility. When her boss asks her where she goes for 40 minutes everyday, she says she has to use the restrooms on the other end of the campus, because there are no closer colored restrooms. This event would not have happened, as, according to historyvshollywood.com "when Katherine started working [at NASA], she didn't even realize that the bathrooms at Langley were segregated. This is because the bathrooms for white employees were unmarked...It took a couple years before she was confronted with her mistake, but she simply ignored the comment." This and other examples of explicit discrimination shown in the movie are inaccurate. Katharine Johnson, herself, said in an interview with WHROTV, "I didn't feel the segregation at NASA, because everybody there was doing research...I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it."
The greatest drawback in this movie is it direction. It ranges from poor to inconsiderate. There was never a moment where it appeared the director added depth or stronger emotional appeal to a scene. There were seldom any memorable shots, because the director did not give the cinematographer anything amazing to shoot. The camera rarely remained on actors and actresses, when they finished talking. It was constantly jumping to a close up of the next person speaking. No actor or actress had a chance to give the full heartfelt performance they could have given, because the camera would cut away from them before they could act nonverbally. In moments when the director needed to establish a new room, he chose to continue the dialogue instead, without accounting for the audience's reaction to the sudden change in scenery. In particular, there was a sudden jump cut from the NASA break room to one of the girls' houses. The change in interior scenery was so jarring, one of the people in the theatre had to ask me "whose house were they in?" If the audience is having trouble following a basic transition, then it is a prominent sign the direction in this movie needs improvement.
Verdict: Hidden Figures is an average movie, with a genius cast and an interesting story, but its poor direction greatly detracts from the movie's theatrical experience.
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