Precious 2009

Precious

A loosen opportunity. Unfortuelly this is how Precious should be described.  For long has Hollywood stumbled on trying to shoot individual pain and suffering. Big budget American movies usually treat these matters awkwardly, while french, south american, and even Iranian movies accomplish it rather naturally.

Precious is about a teenage girl, in whom is to be found almost all the indicatives of the lowest social layer: she is almost dirty poor, is african american, is on her second pregnancy, and is almost applying to social security.  Thus, the story evolves on her relation with her mother, who is constantly torturing her psychologically, with her poverty, and, mostly, with herself.

Precious, as the main character is named, is constantly stricken with a natural urge not only to improve her life, but to live as blissfully. And that is why the movie gets lost on the narrative, never to improve. It could only be human the longing for a better existence. But, alas, the movie resorts on sort of daytime dreams, where the girl impersonates herself on happy, joyful,  and even glittering scenes. This feature draws back the characters emotional downfall, thus preventing the spectator  to feel the drama as it is.  Quite different from, for instance, the intensive rollercoaster of feelings we are subjected on Zefirelli’s The Champ.

Still, Precious has quite good acted by Paula Patton and Mariah Carey, both of them delivering very convincing teacher and social-worker performs. As for Gabourey Sidibe, she didn’t really deserve all those praises at the time, as her facial expressions doesn’t really differ from beginning to the ending. Given the fact there are actresses such as Demi Moore who are even more incapable to distinguishing, say, happiness from anxiety, Sibide’s performance is not so bad at all.

Precious lacks what The Wrestler delivers, and, for that, I don’t recommend seeing it. 

@jpvbm