Hidden Figures

To accuse this slightly cheesy material of being full of clichés is about the same as dwelling on the fact that there is too much action in an action film, so take the opinions of the few nitpickers who will rate it lukewarmly with a grain of salt. In any case, it's exactly the kind of film that will appeal to the masses, not because it's ass-kicking, like some of Ron Howard's earlier pieces, but precisely because the themes and posters look exactly like that and yet it manages to get around it in a fairly sophisticated way. I mean, sure, it's a film full of good personalities and generous gestures, where there can be nothing but a positive outcome at the end, but that's what you expect from the trailer. Where it differs, however, is the intimate, idiosyncratic and incredibly fresh confrontation between black women and white men in a time of oppression and racial segregation. What you don't expect, though, is lots of snappy dialogue and clouds of emotion. Nor do you expect such a great female acting trio, which is complemented by Kevin Costner with his worldly "Man of Steel" type of role, like we all like him. The nominations are understandable, because not once does it slip into excessive sentimentality and yet it is often good to have a handkerchief handy. The only criticism is perhaps the unnecessarily literal script, which makes Hidden Figures just figures in the finale. (26/03/2017)

Wow, the black guy Chris Rock once tells off the Oscar committee and one year later we have a series of Oscar-nominated movies, where Hidden Figures is definitely the best movie the year has to offer. You see it is a heartbreaking story of four clever girls who are working at NASA and at the same time have a problem – they are black. And since it’s the early 1960s and America is at the peak of a cold war against the Soviet Union about who will be the first one to send a man to space, what we have is a fairly racist subtext, which in this movie climaxes with separate toilets for whites and blacks. The story is nice, the execution as well, but those pro-American propagandist scenes where the head of NASA bangs on the sign “WC, Toilets for Coloreds” with twenty white colleagues watching were a bit shallow and I didn’t find them emotionally engaging. It might be because I am absolutely unable to grasp how far Americans managed to get with racism while still claiming it was OK. So here they are and now they have to try and safe face with movies that are supposed to be talked about for the rest of the year… (21/02/2017)

If there is a ‘How to Get an Oscar Nomination’ manual, the creators of Hidden Figures followed it to the letter. Historical facts or logic don't seem to play a role here, quite the contrary. It's a movie custom-made for Hollywood, and I can understand that it will be unpalatable for some. However, don't expect any major criticism from me. Movies with a space theme, especially when they concern NASA, are damn close to my heart, and I can't possibly give a lower rating than 7/10 to a movie about space exploration. A relaxing film that people will like, but will they remember it in a year? (21/02/2017)

An appealing struggle against racial prejudice on the grounds of the American NASA, which is really more a struggle for emancipation than for the control of space. Of course, the United States at the time was all about being first in space and staying ahead of the Soviets in everything, but this film focuses much more on the (from today's perspective) wooden age when "coloreds" had their own toilets and coffee pots. I was going to give it a strong 3 stars, however, given how briskly and with what ease it's filmed, I'll happily and happily resort to a more average 4 stars. (10/12/2019)

I'll admit that if it weren't for Kirsten Dunst in a supporting role, I would have definitely missed out on Hidden Figures. But Kirsten has good taste, and her name and character are well portrayed, if only in just a few images, which certainly "adorns" this sure bet. Finally, her secondary storyline and that of Jim Parsons represent the most pressing thing the main characters had to contend with. Or racial segregation, NASA, and the American response to Gagarin. It’s worth a recommendation. (26/07/2017)