Practically before it screened at any film festival - much less reached any theater where regular people could buy a ticket to see it - critics and awards pundits were declaring "Precious" a lock for all sorts of nominations and awards.
Believe the hype.
"Precious" features two of the most raw, heartbreaking performances you'll see all year.
From the opening, misspelled credits (a reflection of the title character's struggle with illiteracy) to the heartbreaking final speech, "Precious," based on the novel "Push" by the mono-named writer Sapphire, is mesmerizing.
It's 1987 in Harlem. Precious (Gabourey Sidibe, in an arresting debut) is an obese teen living in a rundown apartment with her mother (Mo'Nique, stunning), a layabout who's content to collect welfare, watch "$100,000 Pyramid," smoke and abuse her daughter verbally and physically.
In the first 10 minutes of the film, we get a very clear, very upsetting picture of what Precious' life is like. It's hard to watch. In fact, even Precious can't watch it. Instead, when awful things happen, she escapes inside her head to a fantasy world filled with red-carpet movie premieres and glamorous fashion shoots.
At school - her only real escape - she's called to the principal's office and told that because she's 16, still in junior high and pregnant with her second child, she's being kicked out and sent to an alternative school.
She's not "just pregnant," incidentally. Both of her kids were fathered by her own father.
At her new school, Precious is taken under the wing of Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), a teacher determined to help young girls like Precious learn to read ... and discover their self-worth along the way.
For the first time, Precious is surrounded by people who care about her - not just her new teacher, but her classmates, a kind social worker (Mariah Carey, very un-"Glitter"-like) and a sweet nurse (Lenny Kravitz). Suddenly it's clear that buried deep - very, very deep - within Precious there always has been this tiny kernel of hope, a drive that keeps her going in spite of the horror show she's living.
Sidibe inhabits every inch of Precious. You can see her retreat into her mind, into her thick body, all in an effort to escape. It's a star-making performance that hopefully signals lots of great things to come from an actress who doesn't look like a lot of other people on-screen. We need more stars like Sidibe.
And Mo'Nique? The sassy comedian/BET talk-show host is virtually unrecognizable as a woman completely stripped of what it means to be a mother - or a woman.
Look for both of their names to wind up on Oscar's short list.
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