Hidden Figures

HIDDEN FIGURES (Theodore Melfi, 2016)

The space race with the Soviet Union is at fever pitch in HIDDEN FIGURES, a historical drama that helps give due to some African-American women key to the United States effort in John Glenn’s launch into orbit. The three featured in the film work at NASA in a segregated pool where they are known as computers, meaning they confirm the math in the calculations. When the need arises for someone skilled in analytic geometry, Katherine Gobel (Taraji P. Henson) gets called up to a branch where she’s doing critical checks for manned rocket launches. Although she knows her stuff, Katherine still runs up against racism and underestimations of her abilities.

Back at the computer pool, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) is struggling to get recognition for being the supervisor in everything but title and compensation. She also foresees the installation of new IBM hardware as the imminent obsolescence of everyone in her unit, so Dorothy sets to learning how to program the computers that will likely replace her. Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) is encouraged to become an engineer but cannot take the necessary classes because they are taught at a whites-only school. She pursues legal means to allow for her professional advancement.

HIDDEN FIGURES gives the conventional treatment to the stories of three exceptional women whose contributions to the space program aren’t widely known. Like following the steps to solve an equation, director and co-writer Theodore Melfi executes a methodical approach. The technique in achieving the result can’t be blamed for getting the job done effectively. HIDDEN FIGURES is a heartwarming crowd-pleaser operating within the standards of prestige cinema, but a little more creative risk-taking would have been appreciated among the familiar rhythms and character arcs.

Henson, Spencer, and Monáe anchor the film with intelligence and appeal. Henson projects strength and resourcefulness as Katherine strives to do her best for the team. Even when she goes against the grain, it’s rooted in the mission, not her own acclaim. Spencer conveys a sharp, ingenious mind attuned to the surroundings. She’s not a fighter per se, but she perceives how to win the battles in a less combative manner. In small roles in HIDDEN FIGURES and MOONLIGHT, Monáe hints at a cinematic personality that can leap off the screen if given bigger parts. She doesn’t ooze attitude for its own sake but as a weapon and armor.

While there is a broad quality to how HIDDEN FIGURES depicts the open racism of the time, Melfi does well in allowing audiences to recognize what was considered acceptable without engaging in excessive scolding from today’s perspective. It’s more powerful to watch Katherine break down to her supervisor about the overt indignities and microaggressions she faces on a daily basis that the white men and women she works with don’t notice. Dorothy’s white counterpart played by Kirsten Dunst addresses her by first name while Dorothy responds with her co-worker’s title and surname. Melfi doesn’t draw attention to this distinction, yet it’s clear what the difference in how they refer to one another means in regard to power and respect.

Grade: B

McFarland, USA

MCFARLAND, USA (Niki Caro, 2015)

Disney may not have perfected the inspirational sports movie formula, but the studio makes enough films about overachieving underdogs on the field, court, rink, and track for it to seem like they have distilled the essence of these true stories regardless of if the product turns out to be good, bad, or mediocre. MCFARLAND, USA is no different in following a boys’ cross country program that overcomes the odds to become state champions. The plot is like a race on a long straightaway. There aren’t any surprises, just markers along the trail to indicate how much ground has been covered. Director Niki Caro seasons the stock story with an affectionate portrayal of the community and picturesque views of the landscape.

Jim White (Kevin Costner) accepts a job as an assistant football coach and high school physical education and life science teacher in McFarland, California because he has no other options. His temper has earned his dismissal from other schools, so the best he can find is a demoted position in a small town largely populated by Mexican immigrants who make meager livings picking the fields. Jim, his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello), and their two daughters experience something akin to culture shock in relocating to the Fruit Bowl of California, but they can’t afford to live in nearby Bakersfield, which is where the white school employees tend to reside and commute from.

After butting heads with the head football coach, Jim proposes starting a boys’ cross country team. He has noticed that some Hispanic students, particularly Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts), already can run fast over long distances even though they’ve had no training. To form a team Jim just needs to convince seven boys to join. California is holding its first cross country state championship in 1987, so if Jim can succeed in building a winning program despite having no prior experience coaching runners, he may be able to earn a job in a more desirable location.

There’s irony in Costner’s character and the man he’s based on having the last name White. MCFARLAND, USA and films like it run the risk of angling their stories so it appears that a white savior arrives to make things better for minorities. The screenplay points out this unambiguous tension when the cross country runners frequently refer to their coach by his surname. It’s as though they are reminding him that race is important in informing his perspective and experience, which differ from theirs.

Caro stays attuned to the inherent racial implications of a culturally privileged man achieving enlightenment and self-improvement by guiding the disadvantaged. Costner’s performance radiates humility and a growing personal interest in his athletes, which presents the coach more like a talent spotter than the architect of the team’s success. White warrants credit for seeing the skill and channeling the ability in these kids, and the runners deserve their accolades through dedication and effort. The team is the source of the coach’s reflected glory.

While MCFARLAND, USA is sensitive to how it depicts these events, it struggles to round out any characters other than White. Except for the two runners who are mostly known as the brothers of the slowest team member, each boy is reduced to a single quality. Thomas’ storyline receives more attention to the others, but he still fails to register as more than a slightly more prominent part of the whole. It’s also disconcerting that an accomplished actress like Bello isn’t afforded more to do than being the sturdy family center while Jim devotes himself to coaching.

Such shortcomings aside, MCFARLAND, USA succeeds at detailing the challenges in the community and generating empathy with minimal condescension. White understands that families letting their sons compete can mean lost wages. When he volunteers to work in the fields and throws his daughter a quinceañera, it demonstrates that he knows his credibility and families’ willingness to let their boys run requires connecting with these people as more than just a cultural tourist. MCFARLAND, USA is a predictable, heartwarming story of unlikely sports achievement. As the McFarland runners push to win the title, the film can be quite thrilling, yet the greatest uplift comes in the human bonds forged to get to that moment.

Grade: B

Draft Day

DRAFT DAY (Ivan Reitman, 2014)

With less than thirteen hours before the NFL Draft Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) should be finishing research on whether Ohio State linebacker Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman) or Florida State running back Ray Jennings (Arian Foster) is the likely best use of the seventh pick. Although he seems content to stay put and take either player, team owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) impresses upon Sonny that he needs to make a splash. So, when the Seattle Seahawks dangle the top pick, the Browns GM makes the trade even though he gives up a king’s ransom to seal the deal.

In DRAFT DAY the owner, coaching staff, scouts, other front office personnel, and fans expect the team has moved up to select Wisconsin quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence). The bold decision causes some dissension, though. Coach Penn (Denis Leary) doesn’t think they should be using a valuable pick for a player at a position where he’s satisfied with their starter. The current QB, Brian Drew (Tom Welling), is angry that he may get displaced, especially after working hard to rehabilitate from a season-ending injury. As if the internal disagreements aren’t distracting enough, Sonny is also dealing with the news that his girlfriend Ali (Jennifer Garner), a Browns executive in charge of the salary cap, is pregnant and grieving for his recently deceased father, a coaching legend he fired.

Make no mistake, DRAFT DAY is a feature-length advertisement for the National Football League and its upcoming amateur draft on primetime television. The heavy hands of their legal and marketing teams are evident throughout. Although DRAFT DAY doesn’t portray the league’s employees and incoming players as choirboys, it protects them with a screenplay equivalent to a no-contact practice jersey. The character flaws and controversies look pretty mild compared to what pops up in sports pages. Meanwhile the film bestows superhero-like status upon those in NFL front offices. Director Ivan Reitman uses weaving split-screen like comic book panels and often lets the characters literally break the boundaries of their boxes. (The elements of fantasy also extend to presuming the woeful Browns will make moves that improve the franchise. Only in the movies.)

As much as the DRAFT DAY squad might like to think this fictional tale is a football version of MONEYBALL, its decision makers reinforce the status quo rather than challenge it. Even with hours of game film and pages of combine measurements, GMs try to find an edge in predicting success via secondhand gossip and the Wonderlic Test. The research and evaluative tricks are intended to serve as more evidence for burnishing the reputations of these supposedly brilliant men in front offices when they really point out how desperate the executives are to hedge their bets. The disruption caused by one football war room going against conventional wisdom is comical yet may be the most on-point detail in the film.

DRAFT DAY is smitten with the art of the deal, even if these transactions occur with high predictability and ease. Although the film takes us behind the scenes, Costner maintains the public persona of a sports GM, most of whom are notorious for saying a lot that means very little. As he wheels and deals, Costner provides faith that Sonny knows what he’s doing despite lack of proof that he is any good at his job. Because there’s surprisingly little drama in swapping picks, DRAFT DAY tries to raise the stakes by having Sonny’s private affairs compete for his attention. Costner and Garner exhibit good chemistry in mixing the professional and personal, although their subplot is a non-starter. Garner handles her thankless role nicely, but it feels like her character is there because someone noticed they needed a woman in the movie. A minor storyline about Sonny’s mother (Ellen Burstyn) wanting to go over his father’s will and a letter to him on this of all days rings completely false and takes away time from more pressing matters. Thanks in large part to Costner ‘s charisma DRAFT DAY has a folksy charm that masks the corporate promotional vehicle he’s anchoring, but anyone with a passing knowledge of pro football should be able to see this as the unadulterated myth-making it is.

Grade: C+

The Company Men

THE COMPANY MEN (John Wells, 2010)

The reach of the economic crisis extends even into the executive offices in THE COMPANY MEN. The drama focuses on three high level corporate workers who find themselves unemployed when their company’s stock prices need to be goosed. After all, cutting employees is viewed as the fast track to improving the bottom line.

Sales manager Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) initially refuses to alter his ways after losing his six-figure job. He shows up at the outplacement services office confident that, unlike his fellow white collar cubicle companions, he’ll find new work in no time. As the weeks stretch into months, Bobby grudgingly accepts the reality of his situation. Not only is his family’s lifestyle and home too extravagant to maintain while he searches for a job, but they likely won’t be able to keep up with their previous standard when he does get one.

Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) is a company lifer who started on the factory floor and worked his way into a major position. Being laid off hits him extremely hard. Then he’s walloped with the fact that at sixty his age and hard-living appearance are liabilities that may keep him from returning to anything close to what he’s used to doing.

Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) was in on the ground floor when starting the then-shipbuilding company with his friend, the current CEO James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson), yet he’s considered expendable too.

THE COMPANY MEN means well in addressing the hardships that come with losing one’s job, particularly in this economy. There’s an air of resignation hanging over the film as these men confront their powerlessness and inadequacies upon being deprived of something that has defined who they are.

The most poignant moments aren’t visible in outbursts but in how they carry on as though still employed so that family, friends, and neighbors don’t pity them. For Bobby the greatest pains are in realizing that his blue collar brother-in-law Jack (Kevin Costner) is kicking him some extra money in his paycheck and that his son returned a gift because he knows the family can’t afford it.

Writer-director John Wells captures these details well. From the embarrassment of knowing one can’t provide for those you love and the indignity of learning that one’s skill set isn’t unique or in high demand, THE COMPANY MEN observes how unemployment can bring death by a thousand small cuts rather than one major one.

Wells displays a light touch in depicting the adversities these men face. He doesn’t linger on their shame and anger but lets such feelings seep into the performances. Wells also doesn’t hammer his larger points. When Bobby’s brother-in-law asks him if the CEO works hard enough to deserve to be compensated seven hundred times more than the guys on the low end, it calls out the gross inequity of business today without making a scene. Gene mourns the decline of manufacturing and bristles at the blind adherence to Wall Street’s lead.

Nevertheless, THE COMPANY MEN could stand to express a little righteous fury. The film is often so low key that it ignores the urgency pressing down on Bobby and Phil. While the point of telling this story through three main characters is to examine the differences in their circumstances, the impact is often diluted. The loss of status and security for the wealthy is a reasonable premise for a film, but concentrating on individuals pulling in stacks of money like these people once made weakens the audience’s emotional connection in this instance. It’s harder to feel sorry for those who now can’t afford country club dues or biding time until stock options can be cashed in.

Grade: C