If you go
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
5 out of 5 stars
Stars: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey
Director: Lee Daniels
Rated R for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language
Running time: 109 minutes
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” isn’t a movie. It’s an experience. And this beautifully transformative experience shouldn’t be missed, even though the repulsing subject matter comes out of harsh reality. Lee Daniels (“Monster’s Ball”) produces and directs a Damien Paul screenplay taken from educator Sapphire’s fictionalized amalgam about a disadvantaged child’s life in the late 1980s Harlem ghetto. The composite character, 16-year-old Claireece “Precious” Jones, is one of the most unlikely, unforgettable heroines in cinema history.
Playing this raped, beaten, demeaned, illiterate and morbidly obese black teen mother, newcomer Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe gives the most raw and devastating performance by any lead actress this year. In its power, her work is matched only by the supporting actress who plays the piece’s antagonist. A ferocious Mo’Nique blows away her previous reputation as a one-note, lowbrow comedienne. She evokes a complicated reaction of horror and eventual pity in her depiction of the despicable she-villain, Precious’ abusive mother, Mary.
As the story embarks, Precious is a vacant-eyed shell of a girl. At the worst moments, she retreats into her vivid fantasies of glamorous evening gowns and cute light-skinned boyfriends. But in fact, she’s pregnant with her second child, another product of her father’s repeated incestuous violations. They began when she was a toddler. Her mother continues the verbal, violent, and sexual attacks. Mary also tries to thwart an attempt to get Precious into a special education program for troubled girl, which might finally teach her daughter some basic skills.
Up to now, society — the system — has treated the ironically named Precious as anything but that. But in a compelling case for social programs, which even a conservative Republican cannot deny, Precious finds the first glimmers of love and support that she has ever had in a new teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) and an undeterred social worker Ms. Weiss (the unrecognizable and convincing Mariah Carey).
What ensues is a harrowing saga of incremental growth. Lots of ugliness. No miracles. But there is some hope. As I write this, it makes me weep again to remember the moment when Precious speaks up for herself for the first time, finally releasing to a class of fellow outcasts a sense of her abject self-hatred.
It’s a heart-opening catharsis to see a forgotten soul find her voice, And with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry sponsoring it, this challenging small picture is already finding a big audience.
