Superb story, script, acting, nice to see Kevin Costner back on form. I can only praise this film and hope Hollywood can knock out another masterpiece soon,but while super heroes rain supreme I doubt it very much. Highly recommended.

Tedious and not enough time spent on the space technology. Implausible in places, like when Dorothy "fixes" the computer, it would not be possible without knowing the machine architecture. The men, apart from Harrison, were made to look stupid. IBM would not send incompetent technicians to such a high profile client like NASA. Too much of a political agenda for my liking, I thought it would be a lot better, rather disappointing.

Wanted to see as many 2016 films as possible, especially those that won or were nominated for the big awards. 'Hidden Figures' also had the further interest on being based on an incredible true story, with just as incredible people, set during a very interesting and still hard-hitting period of history.'Hidden Figures' was one of the best-received films of the year critically and it is not hard to see why. Not saying that it's perfect or one of my favourites of all time, and it won't work, and has not worked, for everybody. Can definitely see the criticisms directed against it, or at least a few of them. There are a lot of exceptional elements here too that make it an illuminating and entertaining film that is hard to dislike regardless of any factual inaccuracies and distortions. The film is very well made, beautifully shot with the 60s setting recreated and evoked expertly. The direction keeps things moving while giving some breathing space, allowing the character interaction and situations to shine through (and shine through they do) and making the most of the story and period. The music is a dynamic fit. Particularly good here are the performances, with Octavia Spencer and especially Taraji P. Henson giving two of the year's best performances. Kirsten Dunst is given her meatiest material in years and her performance is one of her best, likewise with Kevin Costner. The three lead characters are ones you root for all the way, ones you laugh with, are moved by and are inspired by. Katherine in particular. Much of the script sparkles in sharpness, wit and insight. Parts are amusingly absurd which provides a levity that stops the film from becoming overly-serious. Parts make one reach for the tissues. Parts make one angry in a way that is appropriate. And throughout a great job is done honouring these characters while not making them complete saints. Not everything works. The colleague characters, though acted very well, are nowhere near as interesting or well developed. They are instead too one-dimensional and pat, with only Costner's character showing a glimpse of any kind of an open mind. It does get a little heavy-handed, a hard trap to avoid with the subject matter and period and credit is due not trivialising segregation. Especially true in most of the characterisation being too neat, parts that are a little preachy and the coloured bathroom running gag getting a little repetitive. Personally wouldn't call 'Hidden Figures' offensive, more that subtlety isn't a strong suit.Overall, very well done, not a film to remain hidden and does inspire to read more about the story, the characters and the period. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Three female African-American Mathematicians join NASA in the early 60's at a time when segregation was still rife. Despite all of the prejudice that is levied upon them they defy the odds and each in their own way prove pivotal to NASA and their bid to get a man into space....Racial segregation in the US was something that I was aware of and was something that I also had a basic understanding of, however the NASA space race was something I knew little about so on that basis I decided to give this film a shout and I pleased to report that I think I made the right call...Every time I watch a film with racial segregation I feel as though I've been transported into some kind of alternate reality (in that I still find it hard to believe that those times ever existed). Director Theodore Melfi has no quarms in getting this point across and hammers it home at nearly every given opportunity (the heavy-handed approach employed here is my only major criticism that I have with this film).Minor criticisms lie with the imbalanced story arcs with the 3 protagonists; we learn a lot about Katherine (whose brilliant mind and nervous energy make her an interesting and rather fun character to watch), but her friends don't get the same focus which was a bit frustrating to me as I would have liked to have learned more about them. Like a lot of biopics, Melfi plays a lot of the material on the safe side; it's a little fuzzy at times with rather predictable character shifts.However, despite some of the above comments I did enjoy this film ( a special mention goes out to Taraji P Henson who I thought was terrific). The tenacity of these 3 women is beyond question and the breakthroughs in science that they achieved is simply phenomenal. Even with some of its shortcomings, this is an uplifting film about overcoming prejudice, fighting your corner and applying your talents to something that you believe in (regardless of how tough the road ahead may be). I take my hat off to these 3 women and would certainly recommend this film to one and all.