Back to the movies... Up first: "Precious"

With the fall semester now over, all grades turned in and paperwork completed, I'm working on catching up on all the releases I missed amidst the craziness of teaching, finishing a book, and editing a film.  Yesterday we hit the nearest Regal theater for their "Twilite" pricing (not to be confused with the movie series described in an earlier post, this is the Regal/UA chain's $4.75 pricing on all movies, every day, from 4-6 p.m.  Highly recommended for those who aren't big on paying $10 per ticket for first-run movies), and with a number of options starting around the time we got there, opted for the ridiculously-lengthily-titled:  Precious:  Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire (I kid you not, this is the movie's official name.  My only explanation is that somewhere in the negotiations for the rights to the novel someone slipped in that the book and author had to appear in the title, and the film's lawyers missed this tidbit).

I had heard about this movie briefly when it was a hit at Sundance awhile back, and the reviews had been good, but this is not one of those movies that gets the $100 million marketing campaign, so was pleased to find it still at the multiplex several weeks after its release.  I hope some of those who get turned away from sold-out showings of Avatar this weekend end up deciding to stick around the theater and see this film instead - it deserves the attention.  (This is no slam on Avatar, which I also intend to see and for which I have high expectations - it's just that I'm betting a lot of people don't know enough about this movie but would probably like it if they saw it)

Let's start with the most obvious:  the actors here, particularly Gabourey Sidibe as the title character and Mo'Nique as her mother, give amazing performances.  I remember much was made of Charlize Theron's willingness to be figuratively and literally "de-beautified" for her role in Monster, which earned her an Academy Award nomination.  Well, Mo'Nique takes that and pushes it 10 degrees further.  I'm not sure I've EVER seen an actress let herself be portrayed as someone so physically and emotionally repugnant - the acting, camerawork (with a good portion of the movie played in tighter-than-full-face close-ups), lighting, costume design, and make-up all conspire to present one of the least movie-fied characters I've seen, including in documentaries.  And she gives such a raw, realistic, and utterly unvarnished performance that you thoroughly believe that this character actually exists, and is exactly who we're supposed to think she is.

At least Mo'Nique has some juicy lines and scenes to chew on.  Gabourey Sidibe, meanwhile, has the difficult role of portraying someone who is about 99% convinced that everything she's been told - she's stupid, ugly, unlovable, etc. - is true, and has retreated into herself.  Yet the actress subtly conveys that there's still that 1% left who believes she can be something more, and makes us believe in this character and her drive even as she is virtually speechless and simply a punching bag for her mother's abuse during the film's first half.  Hard to believe this is Sidibe's first acting role - it has none of the half-aware-of-the-camera tics of many first-time actors, she simply becomes Precious, and acts as the character would rather than as an actor portraying such a character would.  Example:  when she goes to the alternative school for the first time, I would think the temptation would be to let some curiosity or excitement about this new venture show, even if tentatively.  Instead, what we see is a girl who's taking this step because she's hoping against hope that there might be an opportunity for her to better herself, but doesn't really believe it'll work out - she's been let down so many times, she assumes this will be a failure as well.  Amazing work. 

There are other actors, of course, and they all do an acceptable job, if not as noticeably as the leads.  Paula Patton as Precious's teacher is excellent and makes the role into something more than just a "do-gooder" trying to help out some disadvantaged kids.  Mariah Carey is serviceable as a social worker, and perhaps takes a step toward redeeming herself from Glitter; it's not that she's "bad," it's just that she doesn't have the acting chops to hold her own with the powerhouse performances of her co-stars.  And Lenny Kravitz is completely unrecognizable in a small role - when the credits rolled and we saw his name, we had to think back about who he could possibly have been.

I have to mention the sound design, which is generally subtle but effective, and does have a couple of stand-out moments.  Without revealing anything (since everyone should try to go out and find this movie playing), the first is the use of sound to convey what's happening in a flashback scene with Precious and her father; I'm not sure that showing the visuals here would have worked (it would have been a different movie) and loved the choice to use a few flashes (many somewhat abstract) paired with a soundtrack that tells us exactly what we need to know.  The second was absolutely BRILLIANT:  late in the movie, as Precious looks into a room to see who has come to visit her (I don't want to give anything away, but you'll know which scene it is when you see it), everything except the simplest Foley sounds and a hint of ambience drop out of the mix, and we're left with an almost-silence that completely focuses our attentions on the moment at hand, and the sheer reality of it.  Any music, background sounds, dialogue, etc. would have made this into a "movie scene," and instead we got a moment of nothingness and everythingness (which, I realize, was as constructed as any other scene in the movie - but it effectively makes you forget it was constructed, which is the point).  I was reminded of the scene in Frost/Nixon where everything except Nixon's voice falls away as he makes his confession, and we're just riveted to those words.  Kudos to the sound crew here for not feeling the need to punch this up, and instead letting it play as just a breath before this confrontation.

Last bit of praise:  this movie has one of the tensest scenes I've seen in a long time.  Remember Hitchcock's famous line about "suspense" being that the audience knows there's a bomb under the table, but the characters don't as we're waiting for it to go off?  It happens late in the film (MINOR SPOILER:  when Precious returns to her mother's apartment after a prolonged absence), and what's brilliant is that it's a scene that in any other movie would be very everyday, run-of-the-mill - but because we KNOW these characters and are afraid of what could happen, I was on the edge of my seat.  This one scene was more suspenseful than anything in most horror movies.

I must admit that the movie was not perfect.  Director Lee Daniels does a nice job with the actors and the pacing, and this would have been a better movie if he had left it at that.  Unfortuantely, the movie occasionally leaves this style with some way-too-hip-for-this-movie film tricks, like a 360-degree track around Precious as various historical video clips play on the walls all around her, or a post-modern moment where we actually see a slate with "director:  Lee Daniels" on it.  Perhaps in making what's a very realist, gritty, naturalistic movie, the director's ego needed to "show-off" some fancier filmwork, or perhaps he really thought that these elements helped the movie, but to this viewer they took me out of the story, reminding me it's a movie - and look what kind of cool stuff we can do in movies!  Simply not necessary:  trust your actors and the story.  One thing about which I'm always harping on my students is to use the right cinematic techniques for the story and movie at hand.  By that measuring stick, these devices were a bad choice.  (for the record, I was okay with the fantasy scenes themselves, which were appropriately treated differently from the main movie - but those would have been enough, no need to invade the rest of the movie with crazy camerawork and such.)

But that's a minor quibble.  It's a good movie, and I expect/hope to see some Oscar noms out of it (though I have a notoriously bad track record at the movies I think most deserve nominations getting them).  Go see it.  As for me, I'll be back at the theater catching up on the other new releases, and/or at home catching up on GTA IV, and will post thoughts on those as I get through them.