Abject poverty. Two pregnancies by the age of 16. A physically and emotionally violent mother. These are barely half the troubles Clareece ""Precious"" Jones faces, the titular character of ""Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire."" When touching on topics such as these, the easy thing for director Lee Daniels to do would have been to turn ""Precious"" into a hyperbolic tale of woe—and actually, Daniels does turn much of the film into just that. But thankfully, once Daniels grounds the film and allows the powerhouse performances to shine, ""Precious"" offers enough redemption to make it a film worthy of the buzz it has gathered.
Those aforementioned troubles Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) faces are present from the film's first sequence, when she is kicked out of her traditional public school and sent to an alternative GED preparation program run by the kindly and unbelievably angelic Ms. Rain (Paula Patton). The rest of the film follows her along this path as Precious tries to earn herself a better spot in life while she struggles to appease her malicious welfare queen mother (Mo'Nique), gives birth to her second child and copes with the trauma of sexual abuse at the hands of her father.
Clearly this is heavy material that Daniels is dealing with, and at points he misjudges how strong it really is. Much of Precious' situation is contrasted with dream sequences of her imagining life as a rich and famous celebrity, and these scenes are simply not needed. It is plain that Precious has a painful life, it is unnecessary to highlight that even further. Thankfully, these become less present later in the film as Daniels lets the material and the gritty streets of 1980s Harlem speak for themselves.
Of course, the burning topic at hand in any discussion of ""Precious"" is the much-hyped performance of Mo'Nique as Precious' abusive mother, Mary. At first, it seems like the typical de-glamification performance that actors often use to fill their trophy cases. Mariah Carey, who appears as a social worker assigned to Precious, seems to only be in this film just so she can earn some indie cred for doing a role without makeup.
However, within moments of being introduced, Mo'Nique shows that all of the raves she has received are absolutely justified. There is a fearlessness to her performance in just how unlikeable she allows herself to be. Even in her big monologue, when Mary tries to explain why she treated Precious so callously, Mo'Nique refuses to portray her character as anything other than pathetic, yet she still remains identifiable. Her role is akin to Bruno Ganz's fantastic performance as Adolf Hitler in ""Downfall,"" as she is tasked with making a monster human without downplaying her monstrosity. This is a woman who can casually throw a three-day-old infant to the ground, but at the same time she is still a human being.
Even with Mo'Nique's award-worthy work, it is important to remember that this is still Precious' story, and thankfully newcomer Sidibe provides a strong foundation in the title role. Despite all of the pain and anguish in Precious' life, Sidibe instills the character with an ever-present sense of life buried under her mumbled lines and slouching posture, whether it be through a sly smile or her sarcastic comments to Carey's gruff social worker. With any story, it is necessary to have some reason to wish things will all work out in the end. The promise that Sidibe infuses into her character's life leaves you with the motivation to care about that dilemma.
While ""Precious"" may ultimately be an actors' showcase, the performances still manage to combine with a harrowing story to create a film that begs to be seen. Granted, it may be one of the hardest films to watch this year this side of Lars Von Trier's ""Antichrist,"" but even with its flaws ""Precious"" offers up a unique story that deserves not only an audience of film buffs, but anybody with an interest in the human condition.
Grade: B
