Precious
[Warning: If you don't want to know the detailed plot of the movie, don't read this]
When I first heard about this book, and then the movie, I wasn’t really interested. I knew the plotline, but it didn’t sound like something I would like. But like I said before, that’s the beauty of award season: it makes you see movies you wouldn’t be interested in otherwise.
Well. This was possibly the most disturbing movie I’ve seen in a long time. And sometimes the word disturbing can be a good thing and sometimes it can be bad. I’m still not sure which one this is. It’s the story of Clarisse Precious Jackson, who, when the film starts, is pregnant at 16 with her second child by her father. She goes to an alternative school and seems to be making progress, but the whole time you see her relationship with her mother go from bad to worse, culminating in a pushing fight, Precious falling down the stairs with a newborn in her arms and her mother throwing a television at her. Crazy. At first the film is compelling because you’re waiting for the “big event” to happen, but once it does the feeling is just freaked out. Things were looking up for Precious after the “big event,” but then she found out her father died from AIDS. The hits just keep on coming.
I remember when I first saw the movie Monster with Charlize Theron – it’s the kind of movie that is amazingly done and deserves every award it got, but I could never watch it more than once because it was seared into my memory. I’m not sure that Precious is as amazing as Monster or anything, but it’s definitely one of those movies that I won’t need to see more than once. I’ll remember. Gabourey Sidibe, the actress who played Precious, gave a neutral or lukewarm performance – there was nothing spectacular about it, but nothing terrible either. Mo’Nique played her mother, and gave a realistic and chilling performance. I never really liked Mo’Nique, but I was definitely impressed. There was a teacher who tried to help Precious, and those scenes were like a montage of Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes, I started to get the sense that this is the kind of movie that wins awards, but it somehow feels a little cheap. Kind of like The Hours or other movies like that – films that are there just to win awards or shine light on some particular issue. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the book was written for that purpose or even that the film was made for that purpose. I think you know what I mean. This was definitely a powerful movie, and I think most of that is because of Mo’Nique. There’s a scene towards the end of the film where she describes the abuse to Precious that is captivating and amazing acting. Mo’Nique is up for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress. Definitely.
Precious is up for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, Drama, and the other nominees are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, and Up in the Air. I haven’t seen any of the other nominated films yet, but this is the sort of movie that wins awards, so we’ll see. Sidibe is up for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama. She’s up against some big actresses, so I don’t think she will win, and I also don’t think she should win.
When I first heard about this book, and then the movie, I wasn’t really interested. I knew the plotline, but it didn’t sound like something I would like. But like I said before, that’s the beauty of award season: it makes you see movies you wouldn’t be interested in otherwise.
Well. This was possibly the most disturbing movie I’ve seen in a long time. And sometimes the word disturbing can be a good thing and sometimes it can be bad. I’m still not sure which one this is. It’s the story of Clarisse Precious Jackson, who, when the film starts, is pregnant at 16 with her second child by her father. She goes to an alternative school and seems to be making progress, but the whole time you see her relationship with her mother go from bad to worse, culminating in a pushing fight, Precious falling down the stairs with a newborn in her arms and her mother throwing a television at her. Crazy. At first the film is compelling because you’re waiting for the “big event” to happen, but once it does the feeling is just freaked out. Things were looking up for Precious after the “big event,” but then she found out her father died from AIDS. The hits just keep on coming.
I remember when I first saw the movie Monster with Charlize Theron – it’s the kind of movie that is amazingly done and deserves every award it got, but I could never watch it more than once because it was seared into my memory. I’m not sure that Precious is as amazing as Monster or anything, but it’s definitely one of those movies that I won’t need to see more than once. I’ll remember. Gabourey Sidibe, the actress who played Precious, gave a neutral or lukewarm performance – there was nothing spectacular about it, but nothing terrible either. Mo’Nique played her mother, and gave a realistic and chilling performance. I never really liked Mo’Nique, but I was definitely impressed. There was a teacher who tried to help Precious, and those scenes were like a montage of Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes, I started to get the sense that this is the kind of movie that wins awards, but it somehow feels a little cheap. Kind of like The Hours or other movies like that – films that are there just to win awards or shine light on some particular issue. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the book was written for that purpose or even that the film was made for that purpose. I think you know what I mean. This was definitely a powerful movie, and I think most of that is because of Mo’Nique. There’s a scene towards the end of the film where she describes the abuse to Precious that is captivating and amazing acting. Mo’Nique is up for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress. Definitely.
Precious is up for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, Drama, and the other nominees are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, and Up in the Air. I haven’t seen any of the other nominated films yet, but this is the sort of movie that wins awards, so we’ll see. Sidibe is up for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama. She’s up against some big actresses, so I don’t think she will win, and I also don’t think she should win.
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