Hidden Figures (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 127 minutes
Director: Theodore Melfi
Writers: Margot Lee Shetterly (based on the book written by), Allison Shroeder and Theodore Melfi (screenplay)
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst, Mahershala Ali

Hidden Figures is now showing in the United States and will be released in Australia on February 16. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Like the incredible women in the film, Hidden Figures is smart, entertaining and inspirational. It's a wonderfully sharp film that provides a nostalgic and informative snapshot of history while never neglecting it's responsibility to pay the greatest tribute to it's remarkable heroines.

Set in 1961, Hidden Figures is the widely unknown story of how three extraordinary women overcame the unavoidable obstacles of race and gender to assist NASA in their quest to put men in space and ultimately on the moon. Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae), all of who were close friends, made their mark on history in each of their fields at NASA at a time when racial segregation was still in place in the state of Virginia and women still struggled to be taken seriously in the workplace.

Hidden Figures is truly a marvellous piece of filmmaking by director and co-writer, Theodore Melfi. At 127 minutes, it is by no means a short film. However, it is still incredible how much it does and says in this amount of time without seeming heavy or overloaded.

Hidden Figures never once loses focus of it's primary goal, which is to tell the story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. Yet at the same time, the film also provides an intriguing and nostalgic historical imprint of early 1960's in the United States, a time when a great deal of interesting things were taking place. Tensions were high between the United States and Russia and were heightened when Russian, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Being beaten by the Russians in such a time did not sit well with the country and especially not with NASA.

Of course, one of the glaringly obvious themes of Hidden Figures is racism and prejudice. In 1961, the state of Virginia was three years away from having segregation abolished under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Even in the film, there is a sense that a change is in the air, but racial tension was very much alive and well. The film works as a reminder that despite growing rights for the coloured in the early 1960's, racism was inbuilt in society so much that it was not often even recognised by whites for what it was. It was just an accepted way of thinking, as was demonstrated by various characters in the film including Kirsten Dunst's Vivian Mitchell. In a memorable exchange between her and Octavia Spencer's Dorothy Vaughan, the following dialogue sums up this notion completely:-

"Despite what you think, I have nothing against y'all"

"I know you probably believe that"

This may look and sound like an insult, but it is not that as it is nothing but the truth. Hidden Figures contains numerous memorable and important pieces of dialogue such as this, but they can also feel as though they were included for people to comment on their importance. This may not sit well with some cinemagoers, but Melfi and Allison Schroeder have achieved their purpose as here we are indeed referring to them.

Yet as much as Hidden Figures is a beautifully made historical picture, it does not forget it's primary responsibility is to highlight the ways Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to achieve incredible things. The screenplay allows for the character development and in depth study of all three of the main characters so that one feels as though they are satisfied with how well they know each of the women. Not only that, but each character has their own unique personality and they have been brilliantly cast in order to make the most of their glorious character traits.

Right from the first scene which the three women appear in together on the deserted road when their car breaks down, you feel as if you are already getting a sense of who Katherine, Dorothy and Mary are and they are all a sheer joy to watch in this scene. Taraji P. Henson is wonderful as Katherine in that she is restrained, but powerful. More importantly, she is relatable and completely likable. Octavia Spencer also gives a strong performance as Dorothy, who is also rather maternal not just around her children, but also over her workers. Janelle Monae is a particular standout as Mary. From that first car scene, one can tell she is the sassy, street smart one of the trio, but not in a way that is unnatural by any means or arrogant. She is great fun to watch and brings a certain sense of "cool" to the film, but in a mature and serious manner so not to take anything away from her achievements.

Hidden Figures is enjoyable and entertaining, but not overwhelming. The brilliance of this is that it does not detract from the enlightening, intelligent and inspiring story of these three incredible women.

9/10

Date Night

Date Night
Year: 2010
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson

In My Own Words
Finally, a comedy this year that is actually funny. It is rare to find a good comedy these days. So many writers write screenplays thinking that something sounds funny on page, when it is actually completely unoriginal and not even worthy to generate a giggle on screen. “Date Night” is completely different. It is funny in a pure way without throwing in crude or over the top jokes. So many comedy films dwell on gutter humour and it just gets old. But not this one. In my opinion, Tina Fey and Steve Carell are two of the best comedy actors around at the moment, both being “Saturday Night Live” graduates. They are both extremely funny and both brilliant in the way they can think quickly on their feet. All you need to do is watch the outtakes during the credits at the end of the film to realise how quick witted and hilarious they both are. I am a big Tina Fey fan and if there is one woman I want to be like, it is her. However, as much as I would love to meet her, I would feel like a total dunce compared to her.

Isn’t it funny with people who were in “Saturday Night Live”, when they are in a movie, there are cameos galore. Keep an eye out on in this film for all the stars who are not listed in the opening credits. When these cameos occur in the film, you will hear all the other audience members exclaim and speak excitedly to their neighbours, as I did. “Saturday Night Live” comedians are known as the most elite comedians in the states and I can understand the star power they have.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“Date Night” is the funniest movie of 2010 thus far. It is clean, classic humour, but do not think that means it’s dull. The film is far from that. There are still some moments which are just silly, but it’s not possible to have a whole movie where every single joke is funny. A good comedy is one which different types of people can enjoy and one which has you laughing at the beginning and at the end. Nobody likes a comedy that gets old after 40 minutes. Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey) are a self-confessed boring couple from New Jersey. They feel like their life is getting too predictable and that there’s not enough excitement , so rather than go to their normal diner haunt for their date night, they decide to doll up and go to one of New York City’s best restaurant. When they cannot get a table, they pose as the Tripplehorn’s, who have a reservation, but do not show up when summoned. This turns the night into the most unusual and thrilling date night they have ever and will ever experience.

As expected, this is not an emotional journey film, but simply just a lot of fun. The film is not boring or monotonous for a minute. It is predictable in a way as you can easily guess what is going to happen, but you do not know how it is going to happen. There is so many funny one liners that will have people quoting for days after they see the film. It is a very well written and witty script which is well directed by Shawn Levy. The only criticism of the script is that some features of the film are unnecessary, but there isn’t very many of these. The only one that comes to mind is the inclusion of Leighton Meester’s baby-sitter character. The jokes cracked here are very lame and it is clear that the only reason she is there is because she is from “Gossip Girl”. There are also some moments which don’t add up in the grand scheme of things either. Yet, these moments thankfully do not make up the film. The majority of it is just creatively fun and laugh out loud funny.

As for the acting, not Oscar-worthy, but both Steve Carell and Tina Fey are hilarious. “Date Night” is a must see for fans of either of these two. The two have great on screen chemistry and work so well together. They just seem to compliment and work off each other. It is definitely Steve Carell’s funniest big screen role since “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”. Fans of “30 Rock” will love the comedy in the film and will see Liz Lemon in many of Fey’s scenes. Taraji P. Henson is great as the tough Detective Arroyo and Kristen Wigg is hilarious as the Foster’s friend, Haley Sullivan. There is also cameo’s galore throughout the film which only add to the fun.

“Date Night” is a film which people of all ages will enjoy. More an adult comedy than one for the teenagers, but no doubt they will enjoy it too. The film will make married couples realise how just one night out of the ordinary can make the world of difference. A great comedy film that will be one of the comedies 2010 is remembered for.
7/10

Well done MTV...but are we ready for gender neutral awards?

On April 6, the nominations for the 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards were announced with one glaring difference from other years and other award shows...the acting categories had gone gender neutral.

Both the Best Actor in a Movie and Best Actor in a Show categories this year contain both male and female nominees, a move that has not been seen before in major award shows (with the exception of the Grammys and Britain's National Television Awards). A split right down the middle occurred with the Film nominations with three male and three female actors in contention, while four females were nominated in the Television show category and two males. Although the MTV Awards do not carry the same prestige as other award shows (Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, etc.), it is a move that certainly shows a move forward in gender equality in Hollywood and the entertainment business.

While this move for the MTV Movie & TV Awards is a very positive one, it makes one ponder whether the idea could catch on and other award shows follow suit. It would definitely be a strong stand for women and one many would embrace and celebrate. MTV can be commended for making such a strong statement and as the awards are voted for by the public, it would not be a surprise to see Emma Watson, Hailee Steinfeld or Taraji P. Henson voted for as the winner for this reason.

However, could this move by MTV encourage other award shows to become gender neutral?

The answer isn't no...it is not yet.

This has nothing to do with the quality of male and female actors in the business. Talent wise both genders are without a doubt on par with one another. The problem lies with lack of substantial roles available to women in Hollywood, especially in film. This is not a new argument. Mary Pickford said in 1935 "It’s becoming a woman’s world, year by year, almost day by day". This still rings true, but more than 80 years later we are still fighting for gender equality in Hollywood in regards to the number of strong female roles among other issues. We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go.

Believing that there should or should not be gender neutral acting categories when awards season rolls around has nothing to do with sexism or feminism, it has to do with fairness. While the quantity of these strong female roles is significantly less than that of males, it would make it a great deal harder for females to compete and win an Oscar or any other award with gender neutral categories.

For example, let's look at this years Oscars in the four acting categories. All four categories had wonderful performances by incredible actors, but the two male categories were seemingly more competitive than the female categories. Both the female categories had clear frontrunners for the majority of the awards season with the other eight nominees giving very good performances, but not strong enough to be competition. On the other hand, the male categories (especially Best Performance by an Actor in A Leading Role) went down to the line on the night as a result of the several incredible performances in strong and intense roles.

So this would have meant that this year Casey Affleck would have been directly competing with Emma Stone and Mahershala Ali with Viola Davis. These would have no doubt been intriguing and unpredictable competitions, but one would fear that the actual nomination fields would have consisted more of males than of females.

The good news is that things are changing in Hollywood as we speak....unfortunately just not as quickly as we would like. There may well be a chance in the future to combine the male and female acting categories at prestigious award shows, but that day is not today. If it was to happen, it would most definitely shorten the length of award shows, which would make many people happy. The other argument here is that many creatives prefer not to label themselves as male or female so eliminating gender specific categories is more politically and socially acceptable.

Without a doubt, it is a great move by MTV to make their awards gender neutral and they deserve praise for initiating a giant step towards gender equality in the film world. It may not be time for the bigger and more prestigious industry awards to do the same, but that day is coming.