Hidden Figures (2016)

This was another good film taking place not far away in a time not long ago, but in a different time when people were treated differently based solely on the color of their skin.
Katherine Goble (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) work for NASA, in the colored computers division. (Computers in this case are actual human beings.) Assignments are doled out daily without an official supervisor but even Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) is surprised when the Space Task Group needs someone to check the numbers used for launching men into space and helping them land again safely. Katherine has always been brilliant with numbers and gets the call, working her butt off as one of the two women in that room where she must travel half a mile just to go to the bathroom. When her boss finds that out, he (Kevin Costner) is furious and ends segregation at NASA for good. This NASA headquarters is in Virginia and it is 1961; they even have a separate colored section in the library, with only certain books allowed. But the women somehow, despite the obstacles, succeed. Mary petitions the court and sweet talks the judge, using facts to be allowed to take classes at an all-white high school so she can become an engineer and Dorothy learns about computers and eventually knows the IBM better than the guys who put it together. When she gets reassigned, she takes the rest of the women with her.
Despite some hurdles and tense moments, Katherine's calculations help John Glenn (the much too-young Glen Powell) land safely. America has won the space race.
Now, yes, this film did play it safe, keeping everything family-friendly, but that doesn't make it any less effective. These women are strong, having to be in a man's world and they are also wives and mothers. This film also focuses a bit on Katherine's love life, with Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali) who is surprised at her job, though he does apology and uses the great that she is everything, not just something.
The acting is excellent, with Mary's overreactions and Dorothy's silence ultimately serving the same purpose, they are great. This film also delves into how Russia is competing with the space race and how segregation was tearing this country apart.
I have only two tiny problems with the film, including Katherine wearing her engagement ring before Jim proposed (in such a sweet way) and that it is 1960s and no one is shown smoking. While I should be grateful that it isn't shown, coming off The Crown, where several characters were chain-smokers, it feels weird that smoking isn't shown.
But the feel is still there, and some characters even have quirks, with Katherine running in her high heels and pushing up her glasses up her nose. It is a great film, one that I could easily watch again. Grade: A-