Precious

Title: Precious
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Drama
Starring: Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton
Director: Lee Daniels

“A disadvantaged student from a rough background struggles to get by and do well, but with the help of one caring teacher manages to improve their stance in life and make something of themselves.” How many films does this describe anyway? Originally I was to pass this one up as it looked to be offering little that I hadn’t already seen a number of times anyway, but what drew me back was not just the acclaim it was receiving but the manner it does things. Like ‘Fish Tank,’ the lead is taken by a first timer with a weight problem, who grew up where the film is set (Harlem), during the time it was set, it was the consideration for the little details that seemed to separate this from the rest. Sadly, I was wrong.

Perhaps in some desire to ‘better’ those that came before, usually focussing on one specific issue that results in their becoming an outcast, this instead feels like the winner of “who has the most fucked up life” contest on Ricki Lake; severely overweight, unable to read, living with an abusive mother and pregnant with her second child, both fathered by her estranged father, the first with downs syndrome; I think its safe to say they’ve thrown the whole book of ‘cliché problems to solve’ at this character, and considering her inexperience the lead manages to pull it off in a convincing manner that neither drowns it in negativity nor plays it like a bad comedy. And when the teacher comes into play, far from the endearing miracle worker, she performs like an ordinary teacher wishing nothing more than for her student to learn.

In fact, the performance of the actors themselves come across as very believable; the other students mock each other playfully, the little kid down the street wants to play and the social care workers feel somewhat cold and distant, apathetic to the plight of those nearby. The many carefully written monologues giving an insight to the thoughts of the lead character better than you might expect, displaying more than just her thoughts but the manner she thinks them, sadly lost on occasion due to her inability to annunciate, letting words merge into one another incoherently. It is also the mother played by Mo’Nique that deserves particular praise for her part as it is with her that the greatest scenes emerge, the bitter and twisted woman alone in their small flat taking her frustrations out on the only person within arms reach.

Instead the issue is with the director himself, poorly editing scenes together to display a jarring set of emotions that whilst im assuming is intended to show a well rounded character, instead fails to display those emotions in a manner that allows the audience to empathise. If you show me footage of a grossly overweight teenager stealing a (10pc) bucket of fried chicken and finishing it by the time she arrives at school, that’s not empathy you’re creating, that would be apathy. Unless you’re trying to portray the character as so stupid that she doesn’t understand fried food is unhealthy – certainly as it seems, after all she doesn’t know the alphabet yet despite her apparent ‘good grades’ – then your purpose has been contradicted. But perhaps I’m taking this as offensive exaggeration without knowing the truth. It certainly seems unlikely to me, but one aspect I can point out issue with is her many fantasies. Sometimes she’s thin. Sometimes shes a singer. Sometimes shes white. Its that last one that I don’t get, and im sure many would find fairly offensive, as though the colour of her skin is the source of her problems.

This is a film that really requires you to take the good with the bad. On the one hand, the situation with her mother is filmed in such a horrifically dark manner, painfully showing every crash of glass thrown at her and every groan of her father as he mounts on top her, such that even the hardened film veteran would have difficulty feeling no sympathy for the torture she is subjected to. On the other is the lighter toned, almost comical situation outside of her home life, condescending and emotionally cold. For me this film simply doesn’t cut it; it feels unoriginal, confused and on an emotional level fails to make any real impression.