It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.



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It’s near impossible to judge how a movie is going to do at theatres. Sometimes a talented cast can make even the most tired of scripts interesting. But sometimes, that’s not enough.

This is the situation in Gold, the latest from star Matthew McConaughey. But don’t be dissuaged from getting out to the movies this weekend, as Hidden Figures offers just the right kind of cinematic treat.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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Hidden Figures (2016, Theodore Melfi)
The African-American women mathematicians who worked at NASA.

Heartwarming and crowd-pleasing. That’s the best way to describe Hidden Figures - the story of the overlooked, but crucial, members of the incredible NASA team that helped put men in space.

With the space race against Russia in full swing in the late 50s and early 60s, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians. They would serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers," we follow them as they quickly rise through 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.

The movie tells a groundbreaking story, but as a film in and of itself, is a little unoriginal, following some pretty tried and true tropes. But don’t let that stop you from seeing what must be said is truly a feel-good movie.


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Gold (2017, Stephen Gaghan)
Eager prospector Kenny Wells sets off to find gold.

Moving over to Gold now, we find a movie that, much like Hidden Figures, doesn’t have the most original storyline. But instead of having similar uplifting vibes, we get a good performance by Matthew McConaughey, and...not much else.

Kenny Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break, teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on a journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia.

While it sounds like there should be some happiness in there somewhere, there really isn’t much, and McConaughey’s Wells is more pathetic than sympathetic, making it hard to feel involved, and making the sudden lurches of fate even more bewildering.

So while the story has the potential to be truly interesting, it’s played out in such a way, and with such performances, that it just isn’t that interesting, plain and simple.