Precious [2009]

Clarice Precious Jones is living one hell of a tough life.

Okay, I thought about how I wanted to phrase this – and I’m sorry for the puns – this is a heavy handed film with a lot of broad strokes – that even though it’s filled with a lot of fine performances – it’s just a bit too much for me to palate. The narrative was essentially – “look how much shit one person can take and still have a positive outlook – your life isn’t as bad – so get over yourself”. You know how people say Mel Gibson’s The Passion – is one giant snuff film – that’s what this film felt like to me.

I’m not ripping this film – I’m just putting those initial thoughts out there – because like I said – there were a lot of fine performances. I thought the direction was interesting – though I couldn’t understand the overuse of the little stutter zooms – which is good for showing a character having a “moment” – but I thought it was a bit more than I wanted – nothing wrong with just showing what’s happening and letting the camera pick it up – not needing to tell part of the story.

This filmed stirred up some disgusted emotions from me – from everything from rape and incest to child abuse – it was vile in it’s subject matter – I just wanted to shout “enough” – this poor girl. Story wise it was somewhat lacking – but fine performances on all sides carried the film – and though I’ve heard everything from it being uplifting to it being a tear-jerker – I found it to be good – but not great – 3 out of 5.

(First movie in a week)

[directed by Lee Daniels]