Precious a hard and worthy effort

This year’s steam-gathering Oscar contender has the grit and guts
Slumdog Millionaire lacked—there are no free-falls into
shitholes, because you’re already in one. Precious Jones (Gabourey
Sidibe) is a functionally illiterate Harlem teen pregnant with her
father’s second child. Her mother (Mo’Nique) is an emotionally and
physically abusive terror collecting welfare on Precious and her child.
A vice-principal sees that Precious wants to learn despite an
environment that discourages it, and points her to an alternative
school run by Blu Rain (Paula Patton), who stands in as an aspirational
and a mother figure. Director Lee Daniels’ first film was the artless
Shadowboxer, so his restraint in telling this impossibly bleak
story is admirable, and his biggest success is the exquisite
casting—small but effective performances from Sherri Shepherd, Lenny
Kravitz and Mariah Carey balance Mo’Nique’s screen-sucking fervour, and
Sidibe’s blank face hides a gentle but tenacious soul. Precious is a hard but worthy journey.

This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.