Hidden Figures, film review: True story of the black backroom girls in the American space race

Hidden Figures is all about finding strength in numbers and captures the complex nature of the US workplace, says Charlotte O'Sullivan
Charlotte O'Sullivan22 November 2017

Remember that tourist couple who went to the Maldives to take part in a foreign ceremony they wrongly assumed was romantic (they made googly eyes at each other, as their unborn children were dubbed “bastard swine”)? I only ask because, in the land of higher maths, many of us are morons.

Calculations feature heavily in this rambunctious biopic about Katherine Johnson (Taraji P Henson), the NASA brainiac who helped John Glenn orbit the earth in 1962. Watching her scribble all over a blackboard is a joy. Can I vouch for the veracity of the sums? What do you think?

Hidden Figures is all about finding strength in numbers, especially if you’re an African-American female used to being bullied by territorial whites. It might have been simpler for director Theodore Melfi to concentrate on the prodigious Katherine and simply use her pals — flirty engineer, Mary (Janelle Monae) and bolshie computer whizz, Dorothy (Octavia Spencer) — as foils. It certainly would have made the film shorter. But Melfi sticks to the truth, highlighting the pioneering work done by all three.

The scenes where the trio get together are full of zip, and Spencer in particular is sublime. Bibliothecaries in the audience are likely to shudder when Dorothy (ejected from the whites-only section of a library) steals a computer-programming manual and justifies it to her son by saying, “I pay taxes. And taxes paid for everything in that library. You can’t take something you’ve already paid for.” Dorothy gets away with daylight robbery thanks to Spencer’s smile. It’s loaded with pleasure, even as it oozes pain.

Some critics are aggrieved that white supporting characters, such as engineer Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), get a rough deal. Stafford seethes with petty jealousy 24/7. But he balances out Kevin Costner’s character, Al Harrison, who pumps out no-frills decency at the same implausible rate. Both Stafford and Harrison are lazy, composite figures but, in this case, two wrongs do make a right. Hidden Figures captures the complex nature of the US workplace.

Hidden Figures, in pictures

1/7

The film’s producer was recently questioned about whether Donald Trump had asked to see the film. Her answer: “The movie’s running time is two hours and seven minutes. I’d be surprised if he has that kind of attention span.” Melfi’s offering was a huge hit in America. For those interested in civil rights, the film has a jaunty message: sometimes changing things for the better can be as easy as pi.

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