Precious

Precious, the film and the girl, are inspirational in many ways. The latter for her ability to continue to face the onslaught of trials and tribulation that life continually throws in her direction. The former would be more so if it hadn’t tried so hard in a few places; it’s a very inspirational story, and both the writing and the acting are extremely good, leaving one to question from whence the sentimentalism comes. One may need look no further than the executive producers: Oprah and Tyler Perry. It may have ultimately been their input that brings the kitschy moments to several otherwise truthful scenes.

She’s an overweight African-American girl living in Harlem in the 80′s. She’s perpetually between a rock and a hard place. The eponymous character, played stupendously by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, not only has it rough at home with her belligerent mother (Mo’Nique approaches perfection in the role), but she’s pregnant with her second child, and she’s forced to attend an alternative school, where she meets the woman that will ultimately change her life forever, Ms. Rain, played with poise and honesty by Paula Patton. The other girls at the alternative school are differentiated and fleshed out well in the writing, and the actresses do a good job of adding some texture and color to many scenes that would simply harp on the same depressing note otherwise.

Lee Daniels has only directed one other piece, the 2005 film Shadowboxer, so it stands to reason that this might have been a learning experience in some ways. As such, it is a fairly outstanding one. It isn’t the best film of the year, but it has several good qualities. Daniels chooses to treat the dream sequences at turns both realistic and expressionistic, adding to the visceral tonality in much of the rest of the film. Unfortunately, for all the good there is much to be said negatively as well, the most obvious culprit being the ever-present voice-over narration from Precious herself. Here, it comes across as a major narrative cop-out decision, and the film suffers for it. It isn’t even remotely necessary, especially given the rest of the writing by Geoffrey Fletcher, who is clearly capable of penning a few more scenes, though I don’t think that would be necessary even if the voice-overs were taken out. Needless to say, it’s another poor choice that may have been influenced by the dollars from the top, namely Oprah and/or Perry, though that’s only speculation.

The story is compelling and the characters endearing through their individual and collective struggles. The writing is mostly very good, though it’s difficult at times to determine the writer’s pen from the producer’s pocketbook. In the end, it succeeds, though, mostly because it tells such an effortlessly inspirational story and doesn’t necessarily end Happily Ever After, ringing more true because of it. It isn’t one of the best films of the year, though the Academy obviously disagrees, but it is a film to see if you’re looking for a little inspiration on a rainy day.

Rating: 3/4 Stars