"You're a dummy, b**ch. You will never know sh*t. Don't nobody want you, don't nobody need you." Good jeebus - imagine being told that every day you come back from work or school, but not before getting things thrown at you. Your mom runs up the stairs to beat you, and rapes you the next day. You think about when your dad sexually molested you and raped you since you were 3. You think about what life would be like as a movie star, a glorious dancer wearing beautiful shimmering gowns with lights shining for you.
Scenes like this one were painted right from the start, to set the tone of the movie. If reading about it is hard to stomach, this movie leaves a stone in the pit of your intestines throughout it.
I enjoyed the performance of Precious (played by 'Gabby' Sidibe). There were moments that the tone of her voice didn't match the scene too well, but the tone of the movie was all over the place. She plays a refreshingly real teen who has internalized all of the physical and sexual abuse in her character to the point that you could tell when her demeanor changed into hopelessness, every time she walked into her apartment.
I've seen Paula Patton in Idlewild and am not satisfied with her acting chops. She seems too smug a character to make any real impact on Precious. But Mariah Carey... whew! What a change! Sober and on point, she fell into the roll of the social worker the instant she hit the screen.
Monique's performance warrants a separate paragraph. During her final monologue, she rationalizes and excuses herself of physically and sexually abusing Precious. She played herself to be the victim so convincingly, I felt sorry for her and disgusted with her at the same time. I couldn't help but be convinced by her minute non-verbal ticks and her self-pitying attitude - that she was a real person. Is it just me, or is the true test of villainy the ability to completely convince yourself that your actions were fair, and dare I say it, right and just? The tone of the movie was all over the place. There were extreme dark moments mixed in with glamorous high points, smoothed over by hip hop and gospel. It left me all icky inside. The only two story arcs that were pleasant and not tainted by the darkness were the scenes after Precious gave birth and the last scene in the movie.
So if I had to take a shot every time the word "b**ch" was used in the film, I wouldn't have been able to write this review. This is a great, fresh movie that deals with many psycho-social issues and its relationships in the ghetto. It was hard to take my eyes off the screen, even while I was eating.
Scenes like this one were painted right from the start, to set the tone of the movie. If reading about it is hard to stomach, this movie leaves a stone in the pit of your intestines throughout it.
I enjoyed the performance of Precious (played by 'Gabby' Sidibe). There were moments that the tone of her voice didn't match the scene too well, but the tone of the movie was all over the place. She plays a refreshingly real teen who has internalized all of the physical and sexual abuse in her character to the point that you could tell when her demeanor changed into hopelessness, every time she walked into her apartment.
I've seen Paula Patton in Idlewild and am not satisfied with her acting chops. She seems too smug a character to make any real impact on Precious. But Mariah Carey... whew! What a change! Sober and on point, she fell into the roll of the social worker the instant she hit the screen.
Monique's performance warrants a separate paragraph. During her final monologue, she rationalizes and excuses herself of physically and sexually abusing Precious. She played herself to be the victim so convincingly, I felt sorry for her and disgusted with her at the same time. I couldn't help but be convinced by her minute non-verbal ticks and her self-pitying attitude - that she was a real person. Is it just me, or is the true test of villainy the ability to completely convince yourself that your actions were fair, and dare I say it, right and just? The tone of the movie was all over the place. There were extreme dark moments mixed in with glamorous high points, smoothed over by hip hop and gospel. It left me all icky inside. The only two story arcs that were pleasant and not tainted by the darkness were the scenes after Precious gave birth and the last scene in the movie.
So if I had to take a shot every time the word "b**ch" was used in the film, I wouldn't have been able to write this review. This is a great, fresh movie that deals with many psycho-social issues and its relationships in the ghetto. It was hard to take my eyes off the screen, even while I was eating.