Serious Movie Lover

Mo'Nique as the mother from hell in Precious

PRECIOUS (2009/IN THEATERS) I admit that I put off seeing this movie for months now (it premiered in Denver last November), worried that I just wasn’t ready to witness all the suffering of the main character, Clareece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe in a fabulous first performance). As I’m sure you’ve read in the many write-ups of this film, Precious is only 16 but her life is already a horror show: she is illiterate, obese, victimized by her father—pregnant with her second child by him, living with the mother from Hell (Mo’Nique) who collects child support checks as guardian of her daughter and grandchild, but otherwise does nothing except smoke, watch TV and remind Precious that she’s stupid, fat and going nowhere. The idea that this movie would be miserable seemed assured. But…it’s not. It’s powerful and uplifting; it’s funny at times and of course, horrifying at others. The Director uses dream sequences for Precious which allow her to cope with the worst of times—she imagines herself on the Red Carpet, for example—a reality Sidibe has now experienced in real life. And he gives us a Teacher named Blu Rain (Paula Patton) who reaches into the self-protective shell Precious has developed, finds the person inside and with firm continued support, lifts her into a meaningful life. Mariah Carey deserves a shout-out as well as the Social Worker who gets the real story at last from Mo’Nique, in a scene that is absolutely riveting and yes, shows you why that Oscar is more than deserved. Don’t miss this movie.

Grade: A

BTW: Precious is up for 6 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher), Best Actress (Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique), and Best Editing (Lee Plotz).