Precious...Now This is What I Call an Oscar Contender!

I confess that I had resisted watching Precious for a long time mainly because I had heard what the story was about and I just thought it would be absolutely depressing to watch and who wants to voluntarily subject themselves to that.  And you know what I was right, it was depressing at times, but it was also a wonderful movie, that was surprisingly funny at times, with amazing performances and I am so glad that I finally watched it.  The movie has been billed as a harrowing but ultimately uplifting movie and I don't know if can agree with that completely.  Precious is dealt blow after blow (i.e. raped by her father resulting in 2 babies, beaten by her mother, told she is a "dumb fat bitch" over and over), but just when we think she is turning her life around and her triumphant ending is just around the corner, she is struck with another horrible injustice.  While Precious doesn't exactly get her happy ending this is the type of movie that to me at least is a worthwhile experience.  A movie where you really get to know the characters and care what happens to them.  It's hard not to root for Precious to succeed and its hard not to admire her courage and tenacity.  And while its not the typical happily ever after, there are enough moments of hope and humor scattered throughout the movie, that you dont walk away from the movie utterly demoralized.

Now I am not schooled enough in the intricacies of filmmaking to talk about the cinematography of the film or if the director made the right choice in juxtaposing the nightmarish harshness of Precious' reality with the whimsical and glamorous nature of her fantasy world.  However, even I can recognize that this movie was as heartfelt and powerful as it was because of the transcendent performances by Gabourey Sidibe, in her first role ever, and Mo'nique, best known as a stand-up comedian.  A lot of press has been dedicated to these two and  after seeing the film I can honestly say that the hype was deserved.  I have watched Gabourey on talk shows the last few months and thought she was a funny and charming person, who is naturally outgoing and confident.  That is what makes her transformation into Precious just so incredible.  Precious is withdrawn, self-loathing, timid, the exact opposite of what Gabourey is in real life, and for her to have captured this character they way she did was amazing.  The scene where she breaks down because "nobody loves her" was riveting.  I love Sandra Bullock and was glad she won the Best Actress Oscar, but after seeing Gabourey's performance I feel like it would have been nice if they both could've gotten it.  Mo'nique did win an Oscar and rightly so because she was that good.  Her abusive mother was scarily disturbing, and while some have said the performance was over the top, I thought she played it perfectly.  That scene in the social worker's office when she tries to explain why she treated Precious the way that she did was mesmorizing, she owned that scene.

Bottom line, the amazing performances in this movie is reason enough to watch this powerful movie.

Btw for some reason my favorite line in the movie was when Precious said: "They talk like a TV channel I don't even watch,"  I dont know why but I just found that hilarious.