Plot
A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.
Release Year: 2016
Rating: 7.3/10 (148 voted)
Critic's Score: 72/100
Director: Theodore Melfi
Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe
Storyline
As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers", we follow these women as they quickly rose the ranks of NASA alongside many of history's greatest minds specifically tasked with calculating the momentous launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, and guaranteeing his safe return. Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.
Writers: Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi
Cast: Taraji P. Henson -
Katherine G. Johnson
Octavia Spencer -
Dorothy Vaughan
Janelle Monáe -
Mary Jackson
Kevin Costner -
Al Harrison
Kirsten Dunst -
Vivian Mitchell
Jim Parsons -
Paul Stafford
Mahershala Ali -
Colonel Jim Johnson
Aldis Hodge -
Levi Jackson
Glen Powell -
John Glenn
Kimberly Quinn -
Ruth
Olek Krupa -
Karl Zielinski
Kurt Krause -
Sam Turner
Ken Strunk -
Jim Webb
Lidya Jewett -
Young Katherine Coleman
Donna Biscoe -
Mrs. Joylette Coleman
Taglines:
Meet the women you don't know, behind the mission you do.
Trivia:
The film reunites Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner, who previously appeared together in Black or White (2014). See more »
Goofs:
In the trailer, Mahershala Ali's character is referred to as Colonel Jim. On his uniform, he is wearing two gold oak leafs. A major's rank is a single gold oak leaf and a lieutenant colonel's rank is a single silver oak leaf. The US Army does not have any rank symbolized as two gold oak leafs. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 8/10
Saw this on Christmas Day at a sold-out theater in Hollywood. This
movie was a terrific crowd-pleaser. The audience laughed, shook their
heads at times, and clapped when the protagonists stood up for
themselves or someone else stood up for them. The main story concerns
the small victories that the three leads have working at NASA as black
females but its told within the context of the race to get a man in
space, which is gripping and genuinely entertaining in its own right.
There's humor, a little bit of romance, and feel- good moments that
should speak to any person who's ever been overlooked or
under-appreciated, especially within a massive organization.
I have no idea how much of this is true and what has been padded for
dramatic purposes. But, I don't agree with the naysayers who accuse
this movie of re-writing history. Of the three leads, one's victory is
getting a judge to let her attend a segregated school so she can get
the classes she needs to be an engineer; another remains in the
clerical pool for the most part but sees the value in learning FORTRAN
to avoid redundancy and is finally promoted to supervisor and earns the
right to be respected (shown by being addressed as Mrs. Vaughn and not
by her first name); the main lead performs calculations that are
critical to one aspect of a space flight. The ladies are shown as
contributing to a broad, scientific endeavor, which in no way lessens
the contributions of other players.
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