Precious

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is Precious. Directed by Lee Daniels. Written by Geoffrey Fletcher. Based on the book Push by Sapphire.

Once in a while a film comes along that captures your attention in a way that forces you to dig deep into your heart and appreciate the things in your life that are worth loving. Ladies and Gentlemen, Precious is one of those films and for me it is without a doubt.........

THE BEST FILM OF 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The story behind this amazing film takes us into the world of Clarice "Precious" Jones played by the strong and very gifted Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe. It's 1987, Harlem New York and Precious is an obese 16 year old mom with a 2nd child on the way with very limited educational skills. Her mom, Mary played by the amazing and evil Mo'nique is the source of the abuse that turns Precious into an introvert. The rest of the film chronicles Precious' journey through her transition to a new school, the birth of her second child and finally the relationship with her mother.

I will not say any more about the plot because this film is so deep with emotion and realism that I could never do this film any justice through my verbal expression. I could never describe this film in just 1 word. So many come to mind.

Emotional, Powerful, Gripping, Intimidating, Scary, Liberating, Heroic, Prideful, Degrading, Disheartening, Infuriating, Amazing, Brilliant, Tremendous, Triumphant. Just to name a few.

Those one word descriptions are the simplest ways to depict the overall product. EVERY Aspect of this film was done so masterfully that I found it nearly impossible to find anything to pick at.

I'll break it down.

Cast

The films excellence begins right here. Gabourey Sidibe brings so much to the table with her performance that you are in her corner right at the start of the 1st frame. Her character is not well educated so her dialogue had to be minimized and "dumbed down" to a certain degree. This made her performance all the more powerful because of her reluctance to communicate verbally, she had to do it facially. You can see the pain and struggle in Precious' eyes. Her chubby face brings out so much emotion and weight that you don't need her to utter a single syllable for you to understand what she's going through.

Which segues perfectly to.....

Mo'nique's performance as Mary. We have our 1st no holds barred nomination for Best Supporting Actress in my opinion. This woman is pure evil straight from the depths of all that is wrong in the world. Precious is nothing but a hinderance and a source of income via welfare to Mary. It was very hard to watch her beat on Precious both verbally and physically. I wanted as you say jump into the screen and open up a can of whoop ass on this woman. Mary inspires so much hatred towards her. She also created an immense feeling of confusion for me because I can't comprehend how a parent could treat their child with such neglect, disrespect and abuse.

As a result of the constant malevolence fired at her from every direction, Precious escapes to an alternative school where we are introduced to the rest of the cast highlighted by Paula Patton's Mrs. Blu Rain. She is the teacher that deals with a small but rough class of girls that have the ability but choose to squander the talents that were given to them. Patton gives Mrs. Rain the necessary patience that EVERY teacher needs to guide their students on the path of educational growth.

There are also some very impressive performances by a very different looking Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz. I won't say what part Kravitz plays but I didn't recognize him until I saw the credits and put 2 and 2 together. Carey's performance as Mrs. Weiss, Precious' coordinator in charge of her welfare benefits is grounded in reality. She shows the frustration of someone that's tired of people gaming the welfare system yet she truly cares about Precious and her well being.

OK. Cast is covered. Let's move on to the script.

The script is so tight and life like that you almost get the feeling that you're watching a documentary. The things that happen to Precious are not plucked out of thin air from the imagination of the writer. The material is sadly not as unbelievable as it appears. That's one of the aspects that makes Precious so powerful. It's relatable. To you or someone you know. You sit in that seat and you cringe in disgust, you cry with unrelenting sadness and you snarl in unimaginable anger and thirst for retribution. The entire time you are drawn into Precious' world and you want her to succeed so badly that you just want the film to be over to see if she made it.

I really have nothing else to say about this film. I was so struck by the power of the emotions that ran through me that I just want to soak in what the experience of seeing this film has done to me. This film has some statues in it's future. You can bank on that.

Once again, The Best Film of 2009. I defy anyone to debate that.

On the 5 star scale. Precious gets the full house 5 stars with a resounding, scream off the rooftops, "Worth Every Penny" recommendation.

I implore each and every one of you to see this film if you haven't already. In fact I offer this challenge to you. If you do see this film and walk out of that auditorium not touched in any way, I WILL refund your money for the ticket. You all know me. My word is my bond. If you can HONESTLY tell me that you were not affected in any way emotionally by this film then 10-15 bucks richer you will be. I'm not worried though. I have a really good feeling that my wallet will not get any lighter as a result of this challenge.

That's all for today. My next review will be Ninja Assassin. The latest passion project from the Wachowski Bros.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D'