Perhaps it was the review that said it was formulaic - although it is a true story - so that is going to happen. Maybe starring Kevin Costner, I was afraid it was going to be a "lesson" movie. Which it wasn't.
Maybe it was the entire "NASA" story and I was annoyed to watch another one of those.
Whatever it was, I was wrong. It was a great little movie.
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| Taraji P. Henson as the Math Progeny. |
The story of women who are math geniuses and help NASA is well done. The three main actresses give great performances of strength in the face of doubt. Partially because they were black in Virginia in the early 1960s and partially because they were women in Virginia int he early 1960s.
Kirsten Dunce and Jim Parsons are very good in roles where they are terrible people. And Kevin Costner is excellent in a role where he is oblivious to everything but results.
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| A mix of people (particularly Janelle Monáe) watching a problem on TV's on Main Street |
And the triumph was not "black women prevail". The triumph was "black women help the Space Program prevail for all Americans". It was nice to have a single bad guy again (the Soviet Union). It was nice to see peopel helping each other as some small walls fell. It was great.
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| John Glenn (Glen Powell) goes down the line and meets everyone - including the Black Ladies Computing Division |