Luke
stu-kicks
CibbuanoPrecious
February 4th 2010 06:40
I actually watched this movie thinking it was a true story, and that the character of Precious was a real person who had actually written a book of her life story and that this was what the film was based on. I wiki'd it right after I watched the film and was surprised (and a little disappointed) to realise it wasn't a true story after all. This probably shouldn't have any real bearing on my opinion of the movie, but I can't help but feel that I cheated myself a little bit, having invested all that emotion into something that isn't real. I guess we do that with movies anyway, and that to certain degrees the best of them become 'real' in the eye of the beholder. Precious feels like it should be real.
Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is a morbidly obese, black 16 year old living in late 80s Harlem. She already has a daughter (who has Down Syndrome and is named 'Mongo') and is currently pregnant with her second baby, both of whom are the result of her father raping her. She is kicked out of school for being pregnant and finds herself reassigned to a special school for troubled and poorly educated teens. Whilst there her new teacher (Paula Patton) discovers that Precious is illiterate, and Precious' new social worker (Mariah Carey) begins to pry into the girl's troubled background.
As you can tell from the plot description, this is a film about some pretty heavy and disturbing things. Not only does Precious seem oblivious to the trauma she has suffered from her wayward father, she also breezes her way through life despite her abusive, mean-spirited mother and the poverty they live in. Precious dreams that she's skinny and white or adored by the papparazzi... it's a heartbreakingly shallow fantasy that says more than any number of cliched scenes depicting discrimination could ever say. Her own attitude is a strange mix of upbeatness and numb self-loathing, allowing for occasional levity and surprising doses of humour that make such a dark subject matter a lot less brutal on the viewer.
A big part of it's success is owed to the performances of Gabourey Sidibe as Precious and Mo'Nique as her mother. Sidibe (a singer and first time actor) is the neccessary physical match for the character as per written, but she also goes beyond just looking the part - she embodies the trauma and teenaged idlings that make Precious such a unique protagonist. Mo'Nique is an absolute revelation as the abusive mother, especially in her final scenes. She gives a tour de force performance that arouses equal parts pity and disgust and is completely deserving of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar she is currently nominated for. The rest of the cast is peppered with a colourful assortment of talent, including the stunt casting of Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz (in his first acting role) is pretty good, but Carey grunges down without really engaging the audience on any believable level, and the result is adequate but nowhere near the range-busting performance she seems to think she's giving.
Ultimately, this is a harrowing tale of unfortunate and unfair circumstances bouyed by the power of hope in the face of overwhelming adversity. It's not exactly a fun movie, but it manages to be uplifting despite all that it throws at the audience, and you'll come out of it feeling inspired by the film's message regarding self-esteem and mastering one's destiny.
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