Review of Hidden Figures (2016) by Saintdecky — 12 Feb 2017

Hidden Figures is a pretty by-the-numbers drama that I probably will forget existed in a few years, but it is worth a watch.

Acting: Taraji P. Hensen was very good, but I'm not disappointed she didn't receive a best actress nomination. Janelle Monae was fine, but I still want her in more movies to see if she has a bit more range. I'm surprised Octavia Spencer was nominated for supporting actress, and she didn't even really do anything. She didn't have much of an Oscar scene and a very limited role in the entire film. I wouldn't say Monae deserves the nomination over her though, as Hensen was the main focus and had the largest role. Kevin Costner was a good pick for his role, and Jim Parsons was good. He basically acted like a calmer, less-funny, racist Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, but he was convincing enough. Plot: The movie is pretty by-the-numbers, not doing much to stand out. A movie like Jackie would definitely stay in my head longer than Hidden Figures. The cinematography is fine, the screenplay is fine; almost everything in this movie is simply "fine." They didn't do anything wrong throughout, but nothing really new happened. I was afraid it would feel like a TV movie, as the trailers depicted it. At times it felt a bit reminiscent of a TV movie, but it definitely felt like a real, best-picture nomination deserving movie.

Overall, Hidden Figures is a relatively simple movie that is worth your time, but don't expect it to be talked about or remembered too clearly in a few years.