The acting and the pacing were perfect. The guy who played Remy from House of Cards, Mahershala Ali, is in it and totally dreamy. Taraji P. Henson both stands out and is completely transformed into her role. She makes a woman who's smarter than Einstein and who fought racism and sexism and won feel like an every-woman. Each of the women has a family; they're wives, daughters, mothers, girlfriends, but that's not what's central to their being our their character arcs. It's refreshing (and the love interest, Ali, is so dreamy that I won't even comment that she needed to have a love interest and, more importantly, because Black folks in love is unnecessarily novel in movies and should be depicted more often).
The soundtrack is amazing - not only are there catchy tunes, but the music is used in the film so well to advance the story. Pharrell Williams wrote the soundtrack and was one of the producers and his artistry shows through gorgeously.
One impressive part of this film that I really didn't expect was how relatable the math was. They explain what they're doing and why it's hard. They show what math means in space flight. This movie made me care about mathematical principles in a way that Apollo 13 or A Beautiful Mind or whatever never could.
They didn't shy away from the realities of segregation and the violence. (Not all the realities, it's PG/evening news level of disturbing). But the focus is on the everyday racism from 'nice' white people (who mostly redeem themselves...). The antagonists all say a variation on 'this is just how it is' and that's what makes them bad guys, the good guys are the ones taking actionable steps to making things better or cheering on the three protagonists as they fight for themselves, for each other, and for their entire race AND gender.
The part I'm still chewing on is the white redemption. One of the antagonists has a whole arc around their being an ass who gets in the way of the protagonists full circle to being a champion. I felt like it was presented as a fantasy of the oppressed and disrespected woman and... I don't want to begrudge anyone their cinematic fantasy. It does give the white audience a place to point to and say 'ah yes, that is how it /was/ and now it's better' though in a way that is uncomfortable. But maybe I'm reading too much into it? Maybe that's just good storytelling? It certainly was a good story.
Similarly, as in real life, the women rely on white men for credibility and that's the source of power in the film (white women act as conduits for white men's power). My only complaint was that the movie just accepted it and didn't challenge it or even call it out. I could into detail about this but I don't want to spoil plot points or make myself angry before bed, so I'm going with feeling resigned... Nothing is perfect and if that's my complaint? You know I'm digging to say something critical (because what main stream movie has ever done differently?).
Did you see it yet? What did you think?
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