Category Archives: Ted Melfi

Hidden Figures (2016)

I get knocked a little bit when I talk to my friends about Hidden Figures. The Ted Melfi (St. Vincent) directed movie based on the untold story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson – Hustle & Flow, Four Brothers), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer – The Help, Snowpierecer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe – Moonlight, Made in America) as brilliant African-American women who were hired by NASA and who served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world. When I rip on the movie a bit, it is not because I think it is not good, but because it’s just a little too predictable and too PG for me. While I enjoy and recognize a movie based on a true story, I appreciate a darker, edgier movie. When I say a movie is too Disney for me, it has nothing to do with Disney. It concerns a movie being too toned down for my jaded self to appreciate. And, unfortunately, that’s my feeling on Hidden Figures.

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