Hype is often undeserved, especially when it comes to films. Add to the fact that PRECIOUS had Oprah attached to it and you might back off even further. But there's no need. This film, for all intents and purposes, is a phenomenon that deserves your attention.
Garnering two Academy Award wins and multiple, smaller award show prizes, Precious is ...well ...precious. The story could've gotten dark and downright depressing. I mean, we're talking about an abused, overweight teenager who's now into her second pregnancy (incestuous pregnancy, I might add), and one can see where you could surmise this to be a gloom-and-doom movie. It isn't. It's hopeful and surprisingly upbeat. And it's well-acted by a veritable group of unknowns.
In the prime role of Precious we have Gabby Sidibe, a first time wannabe actress who serendipitously found the casting location and locked in the role. She was the perfect choice, and gave off a sense of foreboding and hope throughout the film's length. Her flattened emotional state at home, where she's abused by her mother, contrasts perfectly with her life outside where she's trying to better herself against tremendous odds.
But if Gabby was perfect, the woman who played Mary (her Mother) was ...beyond perfection. Mo'Nique (BEERFEST) pulls in the performance of a lifetime. Uneducated, uninspired, confused, and ill-equipped to deal with just about anything, Mo'Nique played the part so beastfully that it was sometimes hard to watch what she might do next. She was the perfect manipulator.
Direct Lee Daniels is one of those people who aren't afraid to steer directly into the path of controversy, and does so here with an able hand. You may have heard of his other successes; things like MONSTER'S BALL and THE WOODSMAN. No? Then I highly recommend you check them out if you enjoyed Precious.
I would warn parents, though, that Precious has a very appropriate R rating attached. The scenes of incest (although short-lived) are vivid, and there's liberal use of violence against infants and teens, as well as language that'd make a porn-star blush. But all of it is done in an appropriate context, never for shock value.
Precious deserves your attention. Not because it won an award, or because Oprah's attached to it. It deserves to be watched because there are too many kids out there going through this very same ordeal in social silence. Shame, despair, and anger eat at these kids. It's a miracle any of them come out the other side in a functional manner. Which is why Precious will inspire you.
Garnering two Academy Award wins and multiple, smaller award show prizes, Precious is ...well ...precious. The story could've gotten dark and downright depressing. I mean, we're talking about an abused, overweight teenager who's now into her second pregnancy (incestuous pregnancy, I might add), and one can see where you could surmise this to be a gloom-and-doom movie. It isn't. It's hopeful and surprisingly upbeat. And it's well-acted by a veritable group of unknowns.
In the prime role of Precious we have Gabby Sidibe, a first time wannabe actress who serendipitously found the casting location and locked in the role. She was the perfect choice, and gave off a sense of foreboding and hope throughout the film's length. Her flattened emotional state at home, where she's abused by her mother, contrasts perfectly with her life outside where she's trying to better herself against tremendous odds.
But if Gabby was perfect, the woman who played Mary (her Mother) was ...beyond perfection. Mo'Nique (BEERFEST) pulls in the performance of a lifetime. Uneducated, uninspired, confused, and ill-equipped to deal with just about anything, Mo'Nique played the part so beastfully that it was sometimes hard to watch what she might do next. She was the perfect manipulator.
Direct Lee Daniels is one of those people who aren't afraid to steer directly into the path of controversy, and does so here with an able hand. You may have heard of his other successes; things like MONSTER'S BALL and THE WOODSMAN. No? Then I highly recommend you check them out if you enjoyed Precious.
I would warn parents, though, that Precious has a very appropriate R rating attached. The scenes of incest (although short-lived) are vivid, and there's liberal use of violence against infants and teens, as well as language that'd make a porn-star blush. But all of it is done in an appropriate context, never for shock value.
Precious deserves your attention. Not because it won an award, or because Oprah's attached to it. It deserves to be watched because there are too many kids out there going through this very same ordeal in social silence. Shame, despair, and anger eat at these kids. It's a miracle any of them come out the other side in a functional manner. Which is why Precious will inspire you.