Precious review by Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays
It’s Thursday, which means it’s…
Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays
Mr. Hayes is not only the ALMT publicist and lead editor,
but also contributes film journalism and reviews to Critic’s Notebook and Cinemattraction.
Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (2009)
dir. Lee Daniels
Release Date: November 6, 2009 (limited; expands: Nov. 13; wide release: Nov. 20)
Studio: Lionsgate
Director: Lee Daniels
Screenwriter: Geoffrey Fletcher
Starring: Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R (for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language)
Official Website: WeAreAllPrecious.com
“Precious” is tough to watch. It shows you evils that are hard to stomach and a title character in something very like hell.
Precious Jones, illiterate teenager in 1980s Harlem, has a vile mother, a body type that’s far from ideal, one child with Down syndrome fathered by her own dad, and another baby on the way from the same source. Largely shut down for self-preservation, she shambles through life imagining a better existence of fame and happiness and lighter skin.
Every aspect of the American system has gone wrong for Precious, and director Lee Daniels doesn’t want you to miss the point. You won’t, not faced with newcomer Gabourey Sidibe’s disturbing, almost stationary, performance.
Despite its miseries the film doesn’t drag, and Daniels gets lively sympathetic performances from Paula Patton as a teacher and Mariah Carey as a social worker. And he wrings something remarkable from Sidibe that hardly looks like acting at all.
But this is social commentary applied with a mallet. Mind-boggling horrors like the sight of Precious’ mother Mary (comedienne Mo’Nique, apparently a fearless straight actor) trying to drop a TV set onto a newborn baby leave you feeling like Daniels shoved you into the middle of the road. If he wanted to focus on a particular recipe of urban disaster, he’s overcooked it with sights like that.
The film works better as a broader parable, in which evil swings around families in big sweeping circles and no one escapes. “Precious” will be much discussed on Oscar night, so see it and join the conversation. But steel yourself before you start. And probably again when it’s over.
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