Hidden Figures
Crit
Last week, when Arnold Gorlick and I agreed that Moonlight was the best film of 2016 (see previous post), our host Tom Breen, while agreeing that it's a great film, opted instead for three documentaries(two on my top 10, 13th and Weiner, plus O.J.: Made in America) less likely to make you come out of the theater feeling good. By that token, Theodore Melfi's story--of African-American women in 1961 Virginia charged with doing the math and engineering and programming of the new room-filling IBM that will help put John Glenn into orbit and get him safely back to Earth--is a failure, because damn, it makes you feel good.
Critically, though, it also provides painful and often subtle reminders of the hell it would be--was; in some cases still is--to be deprived of dignities as simple as being able to use a bathroom near your workspace, being able to take a course needed for professional advancement, being addressed by an honorific and your surname instead of your given name in a professional context.
A lovely film, and an excellent one--almost but not quite enough to make me rework my top 10 list again.
Critically, though, it also provides painful and often subtle reminders of the hell it would be--was; in some cases still is--to be deprived of dignities as simple as being able to use a bathroom near your workspace, being able to take a course needed for professional advancement, being addressed by an honorific and your surname instead of your given name in a professional context.
A lovely film, and an excellent one--almost but not quite enough to make me rework my top 10 list again.
Trailers
- The Boss Baby--Maybe, probably not.
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