Precious
Composite Score: 87.13
Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz, Stephanie Andujar, Chyna Layne, Amina Robinson, Xosha Roquemore, and Angelic Zambrana
Director: Lee Daniels
Writer: Geoffrey Fletcher
Genres: Drama, Coming of Age
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $63.65 million worldwide
My take on Watching This Film:
Precious (based on the novel, Push, by Sapphire) is Lee Daniels’s and Geoffrey Fletcher’s film adaptation of Sapphire’s novel Push about an impoverished 16-year-old girl struggling with her abusive mother, who is given a second chance at an alternative school in 1980s New York City. The film stars Gabourey Sidibe in her film debut as the titular Precious across from Mo’Nique in a chillingly evil turn as her mother Mary Lee, joined by an ensemble cast that includes Paula Patton as Precious’s teacher Blu Rain and Mariah Carey as Precious’s social worker Ms. Weiss. It’s an incredibly well-acted film that explores the beauty to be found in even the poorest parts of the world and celebrates the triumph of programs that promote literacy through compassion. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Sidibe), Best Editing, and wins for Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Obviously, the film’s title became a meme that’s still well-known among awards lovers, but if you take the time to watch the film, you’ll find that it’s far more than a film with a pretentious title (that’s since been shortened to just Precious). The performances and story surrounding them are fantastic, and both the screenplay and the showings from Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe are more than worthy of their critical acclaim. Mo’Nique plays one of the most tragically vile characters ever put to screen as Precious’s mother – abusing her daughter, abusing the welfare system, and refusing to take responsibility for any of her actions or to acknowledge the hurts her inaction caused to her vulnerable daughter. It’s a performance brought to a head in an iconic scene at the film’s climax where the audience (and Precious) finally see Mary Lee for what she is – a victim who can’t see any way of living without turning everyone in her life into victims too. Likewise, though, Sidibe gives a powerful and impressive performance in the lead role, losing out to Sandra Bullock’s increasingly problematic (in hindsight) performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side. She showcases so many sides to her acting chops as Precious, dipping in and out of reality and fantasy as she plays the many characters floating around in her own mind before finally applying the best parts of those fantasies to her reality. It’s a wildly dynamic performance that probably deserved a win over Sandy in hindsight.
Precious is a deeply moving film carried by its front and center performances that has plenty to say about poverty, literacy, and the ways that humanity can overcome in even the darkest of places with the right support systems in place, well-deserving of a place among the Greatest Films of All Time. You can currently find it to stream on Hulu if you’d like to watch it for yourself.
