Many of us are fortunate to live the lives we live. Me, I was born in to a terrific middle class family with loving parents and a happy childhood. I am getting a college education at one of the best public universities in the country. Meanwhile, some people are born the children of terrorists. Some people are born and die within minutes. And some people, like Clarice “Precious” Jones, are born in to poverty and doomed to live one of the unhappiest existences I’ve ever seen portrayed. If there is one thing we cannot control, it is where we are born. Precious is a girl who acknowledges what she can and cannot control, and she tries to find any hope that exists in a land of despair. This makes the film Precious one of the most emotionally affecting movies I have seen in quite some time. It is nearly impossible to watch, and I don’t think I could ever do it again, but I am so incredibly glad I have seen it.
(I’ll just say it now. At no point will I refer to this film as “Based on the novel Push by Sapphire". I refuse.)
Precious lives in Harlem with her mother, who abuses her both verbally and physically on a regular basis. She rules the apartment like a queen over her kingdom, sitting on the couch watching TV while ordering her daughter to make her food or do the chores. She is prone to random outbursts of rage and violence, yet has no interest in what her daughter does except when it involves her… and her welfare payments.
Precious was sexually assaulted multiple times by her father, and it is he who fathered her first child, and the one she is now pregnant with. She is morbidly obese, and is struggling through school, despite being one of the more determined students in her school. It is suggested to her that she attend an alternative school to help turn her life around. She does, and it is there where she meets her first real friends, and her teacher Ms. Rain. The other grown woman in her life is Mrs. Weiss, a social worker who is the first person to learn of the abuse Precious faces in her life.
As one describes the plot of this film it sounds like unnecessary torture. While many parts of this film are borderline unbearable what keeps it afloat is the fact that this girl is one of the most optimistic people I’ve ever seen on film. While she is being abused she zones out to her fantasy world, where she is a movie star with a beautiful boyfriend, and everyone loves her. To Precious this dream is more than attainable. It is often when she is around her mother when these fantasies are triggered. This ray of hope is what keeps Precious, and the audience, from just rotting away in this sea of negativity.
Perhaps the biggest heartbreak of this film is that Precious had no say in this life, which was an idea I addressed before. She could do nothing to avoid this nightmare. She just happened to be born in to this family that was never going to work. Her future was decided at birth, and that is perhaps the saddest part of it all.
Around Oscar time Gabourey Sidibe, who plays Precious, was making the media rounds promoting herself, and seeing all these interviews highlight what an incredible performance this was. Honestly, she probably deserved it more than Sandra “Super White Lady” Bullock, but I have yet to see The Blind Side so I will avoid being too virulent towards it. But you watch these interviews and you see a pleasant young woman who is so shy and probably the sweetest person ever. Then you watch the film and she is another person. She is more abrasive, more disturbed, and her voice is incredibly different. This has to be the greatest first performance I’ve seen… if not of all time.
The performance that won the Oscar, however, was that of Mo’Nique, and she deserved every square inch of that statue. She is a woman filled with rage, and in the final scene when she pours her entire heart out and justifies her physical abuse of Precious with completely broken and disturbing logic, you almost buy it. Mo’Nique is transcendent here, playing the most complex character in the film, and doing shockingly well.
You look at the rest of the cast here, and honestly every female performance could have been nominated for an Oscar and I wouldn’t have complained. Mariah Carey becomes a different person as Mrs. Weiss, just look at this:
Yes, same person. She might want to quit her singing job. In fact, please do. You apparently have quite a bit of talent in this arena, Mrs. Carey. Stick with this. I personally don’t care if Mimi ever gets emancipated.
This leaves us with Paula Patton as Ms. Rain, who ends up acting as Precious’s real mother throughout this entire ordeal. When no one else cares, she does. She is the one who teaches Precious to read and write, and who knows if Precious could have lasted much longer without Ms. Rain and the other girls in this class? While Precious lives with her mother, she is surrounded by other maternal figures who are willing to care.
Also, did I mention Lenny Kravitz shows up as a male nurse?
If I had to do my best of 2009 list over again, I very well might have made room for Precious. It really is that great of a film. However, I do not recommend it for everybody. It is one tough experience to sit through, but at the end you truly do feel rewarded and ultimately enlightened. If there were more movies like this, I truly believe the world would be a better place, and yes I realize that sounds cheesy. But it’s true, deal with it.
Rating:
(out of 4)
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