PRECIOUS

“Precious” is unrelentingly grim and often hard to watch — but, like a three car pile up on the side of the road, you can’t turn away from it, either.

Kudos to the actors, some of whom are almost unrecognizable. As the lazy, foul-mouthed mother from hell, stand-up comic and talk show host Mo’Nique is wincingly believable; in a decidedly unglamorous role, Mariah Carey, as a welfare worker, exhibits absolutely no trace of her sultry songstress persona; “View” regular Sherri Shepherd, also sans wig or make-up, does a fine, low-key job as the jaded desk jockey who works at an alternative school for kids; and even rocker Lenny Kravitz pops up, minus back-up band and guitar god attitude, to offer his support as a quietly compassionate male nurse. That director Lee Daniels saw fit to take a chance on these performers speaks volumes about how willing he was to go out on a limb; that each of them did so well — sometimes spectacularly so — is practically a miracle (and says a lot about how Daniels, clearly no slouch in the directing department, can coax powerhouse performances out of even the most inexperienced actors).

And then, of course, there’s the lead, Gabourey Sidibe, as the grossly overweight and minimally expressive Harlem teen, Claireece Precious Jones. Glum-faced and dour, all downturned mouth, slitted eyes and slurred words, Sidibe’s performance is at the heart of the movie; she’s in virtually every scene. You want to cry for her at some moments and root for her at others — cheer her on in her endless battle against her abusive mother, sniggering classmates, and cold-hearted neighborhood bullies so that eventually she might, just might, come out on top. You want her to overcome her illiteracy, escape the living hell her life has become, and understand that she has options — she doesn’t have to remain at the beck-and-call of her cigarette-smoking, TV-watching, welfare cheat mother. She can actually flee the dark, depressing confines of her apartment and forge a life for herself. And, in those rare moments when something actually makes her smile — some modest success at school, the innocent face of a newborn baby — we smile right along with her. (The script, the direction, Sidibe’s acting: all of them combine to make the character of Precious a model of consistency; never does she strike a false note, deliver a jarring line reading. She establishes a persona, and sticks to it like gum. It’s one of the most controlled motion picture performances of the year.)

The plot is simple: Claireece, or Precious — trapped in a verbally and sometimes even physically abusive relationship with her mother (they have a throwdown near the end of the film that will have you reaching for your cellphone to call the cops), and impregnated for the second time by her father– lives the kind of rich, brightly-lit fantasy life that lonely girls indulge in all over… the ‘burbs, the ‘hood, everywhere. Only when she is forced to enroll in an alt-education class, and meets her new teacher — who becomes the first adult to genuinely show her love — does she begin to break out of her shell, and even then only one tiny crack at a time. Healing is a slow process, the film seems to be saying; breaking free of your shackles isn’t something you do overnight. You have to work at it. The question is, will Precious break free–or is she doomed to remain shackled for the rest of her life?

“Precious” is no Disney film, no laughfest. It is as bleak, as uncomfortably voyeuristic a look at urban and familial decay as you’ll ever see. But — as long as you’ve got a few Kleenex on hand, and are prepared to hang in there for the long haul — it works… beautifully.

FILM REVIEWS by Stuart R. Brynien