Preciousby Patti MartinsonReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 8 Gabourey Sidbe portrays Precious, a 16-year-old African American girl living in 1980s Harlem. Precious has a pretty horrific life, she is pregnant for the second time by her father; she is illiterate, poor and living with a physically and emotionally abusive mother.Kicked out of school for being pregnant again, she attends an alternative school and begins to see some more possibilities to her life. I had heard much about this movie and it's high praise so I was interesting in seeing if it lived up to the hype. In a way it does, with the performances of Mo'Nique and Gibourey. They both do an awesome job of creating compelling characters. Mo'Nique in particular managed to really convey both loathing and a smidgen of understanding as an abusive mother. Gibourey is just as excellent as a silent and sullen teen, but also being able to show off a far more gregarious Precious who imagines a glamorous life for herself. I don't think the rest of the movie really lived up to the hype. The other actors and actress were fine, but not as memorable. I also felt the movie was uneven in pacing, like it did not follow Precious in time very well, so we didn't get a real sense of Precious growing as woman in her own right, doing better as a mother than her own mother. I also didn't quite 'feel' Precious developed natural relationships with any other characters. Nevertheless the performances of the two main characters are justifiably praised even if the rest of the movie fell a little flat. Written: March 20, 2010
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