Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd
Genre: Drama
Rating: A-
Last weekend, my aunt and I did a girls' night out. Everyone wanted to go see Precious, but I knew it was going to be brutal and I wanted to see something else. I was overruled and we saw Precious.
And I was right.
Precious was BRUTAL. Freaking brutal. But a truly excellent movie.
Clarice Precious Jones is an overweight, illiterate, pregnant teenager growing up in Harlem in the 1980s. She likes math, and her math teacher, but she's pretty quiet and sticks to herself. One day, her principal calls her into her office and asks her if she's pregnant. If she is, Precious is going to be suspended. Worried about Precious, her principal stops by her apartment and tells her about an alternative school. Precious rushes her principal off because her mother doesn't want "a nosy white bitch" hanging around and in fact, Precious is beaten for the visit. We learn through a series of flashbacks that Precious has been raped by her father (over a span of years) and is pregnant by him, for the second time.
But buoyed by her principal's visit, Precious turns up at the alternative school and there she meets her teacher who opens up a new world for Precious and her fellow classmates who keep it real for her. These women provide Precious with a support network when things get even worse for Precious, if such a thing is possible.
Despite how gritty and brutal this movie is (I know I keep saying it, but it really is!), it was truly excellent. There is humor to lighten up the dark stuff and it is a very interesting story. The acting was excellent, by everyone, but most especially the main actress, Gabby Sidibe. Even Mariah Carey does a good job. But Gabby and Mo'Nique should get Oscar nods for their roles - they were that good.
So if you're not afraid of drama and are in the mood for a truly excellent movie, see Precious while you still can.
This entry was posted
on Friday, December 04, 2009
and is filed under
amses movies,
drama,
Grade A-,
movie reviews
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I wanna see it ... but I know I'll have to be in the mood for it.
I didn't like it, it was too gritty for me. There was just too much bad in this movie. I mean, halfway through the movie, I kept thinking, alright, I get it. She's had a shitty life, does she really need more shit to fall onto her shoulders? The shit just kept right on coming and it got on my nerves!
But, I will say that my favorite part of the movie was when they're in class and writing the alphabet on the chalkboard and Precious gets up to write F on the board. When the latin girl says, "F for fat" and everyone laughs, when Precious turns around, I thought for sure she was going to just walk by but when she slaps the shit out of her, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. It was great!