VIA ELEV8:
By Orenta Winston
It is a rare moment that a movie evokes such strong emotion out of an audience in its first few scenes. From the very opening scenes of the movie, the viewer is slammed into a wall with no time to take a breath. The movie leads you on a journey through Hell on Earth. The very instant the movie house lights dim the dark painful life of Clareece “Precious” Jones is bared naked for you to see. She is an overweight, impoverished, illiterate African-American teen in Harlem about to give birth to her second child in the mid 1980’s. When the audience discovers who the father of her child is in the first 20 minutes of the movie there is a collective groan.
You feel the awful sense of pain and shame that Precious feels. Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, is the lead character in what can be called an Oscar worthy performance. The cast boasts wonderful performances from Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, Mo’Nique, Sherri Shepherd and Mariah Carey all deliver performances that leave you shell shocked wondering if it is really a movie or a home video. Mo’Nique who plays Mary the mother of Precious must be nominated in the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category for the Oscars.
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I definitely recommend this movie to the movie enthusiast. The camera work and directing takes you on the voyage through the doors of depravity, abuse and ugliness that is child abuse. The director translates on camera, one of the most brilliant scenes in modern movies I have seen in a long time. He ventures right into the mind of Precious dealing with her image in the mirror that is so shocking that you will wonder what it is you are looking at . It has the gritty texture known to early 1950’s movies that depicted home struggles of World War II soldiers. There is even an on screen tribute to one such movie. The time period and the struggles of the poor in New York City are peppered throughout the movie. I am sure this movie will end up on the AFI list of great movies. You as the viewer are questioned just how strong is your belief center that all will work out if you trust who God sends.
As for questionable content there is violence, mild nudity, mature content and strong language
The length of the Movie Is 1 hr 49 min Rated R.
