A movie of pure power, raw and effective, Precious will take you on a journey that will affect you, undoubtedly. Director Lee Daniels, with a cast ranging from huge stand-out names to literal no-bodies, and the financial and spiritual backings of Oprah and Tyler Perry, conducts a masterpiece of emotion and earth-shattering reality.
First, let me tell you about the cast. Precious herself is played by one Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, the aforementioned no-body. With not a single film, television or commercial credit to her name, Sidibe shocks the audience with a painful portrayal of perhaps the most tragic story you could see in your cinema life. Mo’Nique, a bawdy comic by trade, lost incredible amounts of weight to play the abusive mother of Precious and is spot on in her performance. Each time the name ‘Precious’ falls from her lips your heart feels pain; look for her mood shifts, the sudden explosions, these things create in the viewer a level of discord that can only be settled by the implacable nature of Sidibe’s performance. Mariah Carey makes an appearance as a social worker of truly meager appearance and wows the audience even in the subdued role.
The script shines straight through the mainly female cast. Very real, never pandering to the audience, vulgar, visceral and direct. The inner monologue of precious that pervades the story is dark, humorous at times, and deepens the pain felt by the audience in its exposition. You could not have asked for a more compelling script to accompany such a painful story. The script writer holds nothing back from the audience, racial slurs are thrown about, the stereotypes that are seen are spoken. The shock value in this movie is the mechanics of playwright looking for attention, but intentionally used to prove to the audience the horrors of the world they are faced with.
The movie’s cinematography is gritty, almost as if it were a documentary, hard zooms and shaky angles follow precious through her trials, adding an element of attachment that overly dramatic angles might not. The coloring was bleak, with Precious’ dream sequences being done in bright flashy colors and high resolution.
As a viewer I will admit to being entirely taken aback by the movie. It hits, and it hits hard. There is not a 5 minute period in the movie where you are comfortable. There is hardly a minute that passes that does not take you to a new level of emotion. This constant sadness makes the happiest moments of the movie tragic and makes the laughs that the movie steals from you (and there are a good number) bittersweet. The movie is hard to watch at times but you will never want to take your eyes away.
Precious is a must see movie. An excellent performance by all cast members combined with a compelling script and excellent direction makes this the movie to see if you want to experience a true piece of cinema. Precious goes so far as to show us, on a technical side, how movies can effectively convey incredible power, and irrefutably grabs at your heart and will twist.

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