Oscars 2017: 20 Predicted Best Film Nominees Ranked Worst To Best

Again, Hidden Figures will inevitably get accused of Oscar-baiting, but since when did important historical stories deserve such flagrant reductive thinking? It's almost getting to the point where the label deserves its own subgenre of its own, where the only qualifications needed are historical relevance, quality and minority characters. That way the lazy labelling will be even easier.

Hidden Figures is not a subtle film, but it's also not afraid to exist or to aim squarely are crowd-pleasing territory, which is absolutely no bad thing. Octavia Spencer's performance has naturally attracted a lot of praise, but Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Costner are easily just as good in their respective roles.

Admittedly, there are problems - with the script, predominantly and the relegation of some supporting actors to glorified, cliched walk-ons - but the overall film is as enjoyable as it sets out to be, and it tells a very important story in an accessible way. Perhaps it could have done with more moral shades of grey, but that might well have just complicated matters unnecessarily.