A haunting and sad tale.... Review on Precious Movie

Precious (2009)

Cast: Gabourey Siddibe (Precious), Monique (Mary), Paula Patton (Ms Blu Rain), Mariah Carey (Miss Weiss), Lenny Kravitz (John McFadden).

Director: Lee Daniels (Producer of "Monster's Ball)

Plot:

The story is set in 1987 in Harlem, New York. Precious (Gabourey Siddibe) is a 16 yr old, overweight teenager living with Mary (Monique), her abusive, chain smoking, hooked on welfare mother. Precious has a 3 yr old child with Downs Syndrome,by her own father, and is pregnant again. Precious is a bright young lady who hasnt had a lot of opportunity to develop her intelligence, is sidelined at school, constantly physically and emotionally abused by her mother at home, doesnt have a lot of friends, and unsuprisingly, doesnt have a lot of self esteem. Whenever life gets too tough on her (which is almost constantly), she withdraws into her own fantasy world where she imagines herself to be a star on stage with adoring eyes following her everywhere....this is what gets her through the endless abuse she faces.

Into Precious' world of darkness, comes a ray of light in the form of an alternate school education, with an inspired teacher Blu Rain (Paula Patton). In that small classroom, Precious finds remnants of her self esteem, and a purpose to her existence, through the effforts of a very supportive teacher and a small group of friends. Precious gives birth to a little boy, and she is determined to live away from her cruel mother, and support her own children. Precious also has the support of a social worker Ms Weiss (Mariah Carey, still the non-actor she was in Glitter!), and a nursing aide John Mcfadden (Lenny Kravitz, shorn of his dreadlocks and terribly wooden faced!).

However, life has another curveball to throw at Precious....her father dies of AIDS, and Precious finds herself infected with HIV. She almost breaks down at that point, but manages to pull hersef together, face her worst fears, confront her mother, build a life for herself independent of her mother.

Review:

I know the plot I have outlined sounds quite dreary and grim, but there are surprising moments of joy in it as well. When we imagine the world Precious lives in, it is hard to think of a way out of that dark world...however, she DOES find a way out, and while it doesnt come to her easily, her resilient, gritty human spirit DOES triumph in the end.

It is a movie that touched me especially as I actually work with clients who face similar challenges as Precious, sometimes, far worse (hard to imagine that). But as a professional very near burn out from seeing so much pain around her, I need to know that there is hope out there...

The principal cast of the movie, Monique especially, is superb. It is NOT easy playing a supremely cruel mother, resentful of her own daughter, meeting out unspeakable abuse on her...yet, quixotically, wanting to be loved by her. Monique does complete justice to her part, lives the character. Gabourey Siddibe, in her first acting attempt, also embodies the spirit of Precious, a world weary, gritty teenager, who makes the audience love her not because they feel sorry for her, but because she doesnt feel sorry for herself and just goes about living the best way she knows how.

The supporting cast were..well..in the range of "ok" to "bad". Paula Patton as Blu Rain is beautiful to look at, but doesnt really connect with the audience. Mariah Carey is hopelessly miscast as the social worker...especially as she is faced with two great actresses in the form of Gabourey and Monique....Mariah just looks frozen and uncomfortable! As for Lenny Kravitz minus his famous dreadlocks, you are just trying to figure out if the character is Lenny Kravitz, before he disappears from the screen!

The supporting cast not withstanding, Precious is indeed a beautiful movie, and I can see why Oprah Winfrey chose to produce and promote it. Watch it for its haunting story, watch it for the principal actresses, watch it for its complex, nuanced portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship, watch it just because it stays with you for a long time....