Friday, December 18, 2009

Precious (2009)

This was one heavy, heavy movie to watch. It was amazingly directed and choreographed to pick up on the dark tones of Precious' life, but some people are going to have a hard time getting through this film.

Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is a morbidly obese girl you lives with her physically, emotionally and sexually abusive mother, Mary (Mo'Nique), in Harlem circa 1987. Precious is 16 years old, still in middle school, and pregnant with her second child through incest. She never speaks up in class and once her school finds out she's pregnant again and fighting, they refer her to an alternative school taught by Ms. Rain (Paula Patton). Ms. Rain takes an interest in Precious and begins to show her that she can have anything she wants and be anything she wants with the right education. She must find a way to get out of her mother's house, before she and her kids get beaten to death.

This movie deserves all the kudos it has gotten. Lee Daniels directed a fantastically dark movie that is disturbing, depressing and disgusting, but also uplifting, inspirational and hopeful. The performances, by everyone involved, deserve all the credit they've been given. From Mo'Nique to Mariah Carey to Lenny Kravitz, I saw as shocked as anyone to see that they can act in a drama, let alone give great, award-worthy performances. One that seems to be flying under the radar is Paula Patton. I thought she was terrific as Precious' teacher. This movie will not be for everyone, but I have to recommend it to all.

No comments:

Post a Comment