PRECIOUS is the best movie I've seen this year

There's a lot of hype about Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire. It was a huge winner at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals in January/February and the buzz has only grown louder since. Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry even joined the fray, announcing they would help fund a U.S. theatrical release for the film. I must now ask you to forget the hype. Hype is never a good thing to take into a picture. Ignore what you know and try to enter fresh and clean. This likely isn't the movie you've imagined.

Precious defied my expectations. I was expecting something more like My Sister's Keeper, a film designed to make everyone cry; something more Hollywood. I thought Precious might have it hard, but have a secret gift, like a beautiful singing voice, that would help her rise out of poverty. Fortunately, Precious rises above by staying grounded.

Where to begin. Claireece "Precious" Jones (played brilliantly by Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe) is hardened, but ready to give up. She is 16, lives in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem with her mother, and is pregnant with her second child with her father. Her father has been raping her since she was seven and her mother, who lives on welfare and blames Precious for the rapings, regularly calls her a whore. Because of the pregnancy, the school principal must kick her out of public school, but kindly enrolls her in an alternative school where she might make some progress. There Precious meets her teacher Ms. Blue Rain (Paula Patton), who is instrumental in helping her try to find a way out of the hell she was born into. A social worker, Mrs. Weiss (Mariah Carey), and a nurse named John (Lenny Kravitz) also help her push through.

One of the best performances comes from Mo'Nique who plays Mary, Precious' mother. Mo'Nique has had a stable career, but here she proves capable of A-list acting. Mary has given up on life. She makes her daughter wait on her like a maid/cook, and even the smallest mistake could mean a beating or pan to the head (she can throw). She places every problem in her life on Precious' shoulders, and holds the girl back from what small dreams she may have. She beats her, yells at her, and even names her first daughter "Mongoloid," because she has Down's Syndrome. In one scene, she forces Precious to eat her meal because she forgot to include grits. After the girl--not hungry--is done eating, she must make another meal for her mother while the woman sits and watches television. How nice.

I haven't seen Lee Daniels previous film, Shadowboxer, but Precious shows he is at the top of creative directing. There is nothing standard about this film. Daniels mixes in unfocused close-up and super close-up shots of characters and faces, often focusing while we watch. This technique adds to the tension we feel when Precious has to take standardized tests and face her fears of inadequacy. And whenever Precious is at her most dire, Daniels cuts to one of her fantasies, like her walking down the red carpet as a beautiful star that everyone adores, or on the set of a music video with a cute boy from school. Precious escapes to her dreams when life seems too cruel to be real.

Then there are the special shots. I'll try not to spoil them all, but there are some amazing moments in this film. In one shot, Precious is looking in the mirror and imagines the girl looking back as a thin, beautiful, blond-haired white girl. in another, her photo album talks to her, much like the pictures in Harry Potter magically speak and move. During a section which would usually be a Hollywood montage, Daniels shows the passage of time by simply spinning the camera slowly around Precious in the classroom. The windows and chalkboard are replaced by images of learning and time passing. We see months go by and a girl's mind grow into womanhood without actually seeing any of it. The shot even lasts slightly longer than you'd think, emphasizing that learning is a journey of growth for her.

Inner city poverty is not a black problem, it's a U.S. problem. Unfortunately, it's also an easy one to ignore. There was a good mix of races seeing Precious at my theater in Lansing, Michigan. A friend even commented why we don't see as diverse a group at other movies. My thought: Hollywood and film makers seem too content to cater to demographics. Precious may anger anyone because it does not cater to anyone. It shows the societal problems with poverty and the perpetual problems those in poverty continue to cause upon themselves. For example, Daniels shows us just how unhealthy the food Precious and her mother eat. It's greasy, fattening, and full of carbs. There's almost nothing healthy about it. It is their fault that they eat so poorly, but whose fault is it that fried chicken and McDonald's are the cheapest and closest food around? I'd argue that they taste the best too, because I'm hungry just writing about them. I know to not eat McDonald's everyday because I'm well educated. Lack of education and lack of parenting really do lead to lack of opportunity. What a terrible cycle.

When I saw Slumdog Millionaire last year I left knowing I had experienced a truly remarkable film. I knew I had seen the best picture of the year--aside from Doubt, which should have been nominated. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire has a helluva long title, but is unique enough to justify it. If the Academy is at all in touch with reality, look for a lot of acting and directing nominations for this one. We're only just entering Oscar season, but we may already have the Best Picture.

Score: 5 out of 5

This review comes from my film blog at: http://www.cinemasoldier.com/articles/2009/11/23/precious-is-the-best-movie-ive-seen-this-year.html