‘Precious’ movie review: downbeat drama based on the novel Push by Sapphire

Lee Daniels’ Precious sure sounds depressing: it’s the story of an illiterate, grotesquely obese 16-year old black girl who lives in a Harlem slum and suffers daily physical and psychological abuse from her nightmare of a mother. She has a 4-year-old mentally ill daughter and is currently pregnant; both children the result of incestuous rape at the hands of her father.

And yet, while Daniels takes us through this vision of hell, based, as the title awkwardly informs us, on the novel Push by Sapphire, it doesn’t feel that bad at all; it’s colorful, touching, even lightly comedic at times. 

It’s the most mainstream version of this story imaginable, with style to spare and darkly humorous fantasy sequences; this has helped it reach a wide audience and garner multiple awards, but I’m not so sure it’s such a good thing.

This, I am sure of: Gabourey Sidibe is a revelation as Claireece Precious Jones, the girl whom life hasn’t exactly been kind to. She’s an impenetrable mountain of a young woman, built for survival; her appearance and dialogue at a sharp disconnect with her true nature, represented in her narration. 

It would have been easy to play off scenes like the one where she steals a bucket of fried chicken for quick comedy, but Sidibe’s performance never lets us forget what her character has had to endure, every minute she’s on the screen.

Mo’Nique, on the other hand, in an Oscar-winning performance as Precious’ mother Mary, has been universally overpraised. She’s undeniably an imposing force on the movie, but the character is an almost one-note parody of a villain, and the actress never lets us through the thick exterior (though as written, I doubt that would be possible.) Her “big emotional scene” at the end is all facetious, and betrays the intelligence of the character as set up earlier in the film.

More impressive work is done by Paula Patton, as Blu Rain, the teacher at an “alternative” school that takes Precious in after she gets kicked out of public school. 

Ms. Rain is the kind, gentle soul that sees something in Precious and does her best to help, even though she knows she can only take her so far. Patton, lively and upbeat despite what her character has to witness, brings a great deal of warmth into the film.

Precious also stars musicians Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz; either could have felt like stunt casting, but both blend into the film seamlessly. Carey – almost unrecognizable without any makeup and a throaty Bronx dialect – plays Ms. Weiss, the welfare agent looking into Precious’ case. Kravitz is Nurse John, who helps deliver Precious’ baby and draws titters from her schoolmates.

I only have one qualm with the film: it’s less effective than it ought to be. It’s down to the approach Daniels has taken: he hasn’t changed the story, but he’s augmented to tone to something more suitable to mainstream sensibilities, and undercuts the drama in the process. 

Ironically, in one of the fantasy sequences Precious imagines herself inside a 1950s black-and-white Italian film. Precious could’ve used a little more Italian neorealism, a little less magic realism.