Precious is an emotionally involving film, a potent mixture of tragedy and hope. It’s hard to believe the picture came from Lee Daniels whose directorial debut was the critically reviled Shadowboxer. That film starred Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. as a stepmother-stepson team of assassins who are also lovers. If you can’t wrap your head around that, try this on for size. One of Shadowboxer’s most memorable scenes found Gooding killing Mirren while she has an orgasm during sex. Daniels gets it right with Precious adapted from the novel by screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher who has been struggling to get his big break for a decade.
The title character, Claireece Precious Jones, is an overweight, illiterate 16 year-old living in Harlem. She is emotionally and physically abused by her twisted mother Mary (Mo’Nique) and sexually abused by her wayward, drug addict father. Raped by her father, Precious is now pregnant with her second child. Mary has not only stood by and done nothing; she views this incestuous relationship as Precious stealing her man. It only increases the vile and venom spewed forth from her mouth. Mary sits on her ass all day in front of the TV. She calls Precious stupid and lazy while demanding she cook dinner and pick up welfare checks.
A glimmer of light manages to shine through into her dark life when Precious is sent to an alternative school run by the kindly Ms. Rain (Paula Patton). Precious joins a handful of other troubled teenaged girls and slowly begins to gain the tools necessary to build a stable life for herself and her kids.
With Shadowboxer on everyone’s minds, it’s easy to forget Daniels jump started his production company by producing Monster’s Ball which netted a glammed-down Halle Berry an Academy Award. As director, he does overplay his hand when it comes to the fantasy sequences which Precious uses to escape from her harsh reality. She imagines herself dressed to the nines, walking red carpets with a handsome boyfriend as flashbulbs envelope her. Honestly, these sections aren’t nearly as effective as one of the film’s more subtle moments that finds Precious looking into a mirror, envisioning herself as a thin, blonde white girl. Daniels wisely allows his actors to do all the heavy lifting.
His penchant for off-the-wall casting and muting the beauty of glamorous starlets is on full display with Precious. Comedienne Mo’Nique has received rave reviews for her performance as one of the worst movie moms since Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest. She’s grotesque, but she manages to bring you just onto the verge of pity. Mo’Nique already has a Golden Globe and a SAG Award and an Oscar seems likely in the near future. An almost unrecognizable Mariah Carey appears in a supporting role as social worker assigned to Precious’s case. And damned if she isn’t good enough to make us all forgive her for Glitter. Rounding out the main cast are fellow musician Lenny Kravitz in his first acting gig as a male nurse who attends to Precious and View co-host Sherri Shepherd as the alternative school’s receptionist.
As good as the supporting cast is, the entire film rests firmly on the shoulders of newcomer Gabourey Sidibe who beat out over 400 other girls for the role. She gives an assured performance with little use for histrionics. It feels genuine and Sidibe is the one who grounds the film when it could have easily gone into melodramatic overdrive. She is one of the main reasons why Precious is easily one of the best film’s of 2009.
Rating: *** ½
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