Precious

I have been trying and trying to figure out a way to review this movie. Maybe an angle I could approach it from that would give the film some depth or perspective that I hadn’t considered. And as I thought and I thought nothing really came to mind. And so I’m not going to bury the lead, the reason this movie doesn’t make me think of anything in particular is because it isn’t particularly good. This film is like “Lifetime” movie with a bigger marketing budget. But I can’t completely shit on this movie because it’s not totally bad; it’s just not very good. I feel like I am missing something. It almost feels like this movie is an ingenious parody, but not quite. Here we go.

“Precious,” is the story of a fat teenager in the 1980’s who is pregnant with her second child from her father. This girl’s life is so horrible that it doesn’t seem real, but in actuality is probably more common than the way people live in most movies. Precious can’t read and she gets sent to a special school to get her GED. Her mother abuses her every single way possible. The one thing the film does well is it shows the cycle of psychological abuse that can perpetuate itself because of one sick person’s actions. The other thing that is good about the film (yup, there’s only one more thing) is Gabourey Sidibe. I cannot stress enough how amazing this girl’s performance is. She is reason alone to sit through this film. Whatever awards are going to be given out should just be mailed directly to her because no actress this year can top her. With that being said, here’s what else you can look forward to. The directing in the film is just not good. Subtlety is not in the director’s arsenal of filmmaking tricks. Also the story just delivers one blow after another to Precious, so much so that by the end of the film her life cannot possibly get any worse, and then it does. The dialogue is often sappy and sentimental and just generally unrealistic. The movie has its moments but there aren’t enough of them. The supporting actors just don’t cut it. Sidibe is so far above them that they can’t keep up. The only other believable performances come from Precious’ classmates, but everyone else from Monique to Paula Patton is trying too hard. I blame the director who should have the good sense to rein in the performances so that acting doesn’t become over acting.

So what is the bottom line? The film itself isn’t very good but it isn’t all bad. Somehow I still recommend that you see it. The only conceivable reason for this has to be Gabourey Sidibe. Try not to go into this expecting a well crafted story or film cause you won’t get it. It’s a shame really cause in better hands this might have been a great movie, something to aspire to. Instead, if you go in to it expecting to see a study of a character perfectly molded by a superb actress then I think you will be pleased with the results.