Precious

Two weeks ago I saw three movies: Precious, A Single Man, and A Serious Man. It's taken me forever to find time to write about them. But one at a time! Today's movie: Precious. First of all, this was much more depressing than I thought it would be. I knew the basic plot line, including the horrific elements of it, before I saw it, but I never expected such intense performances from Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'nique. Were it not for the truthful, powerful, and heartbreaking performances that these two women gave, the movie would not be the same. It would have been far weaker. Again, as with so many of the movies nominated this year, I appreciated the honesty. I also loved the Cinematography, for which it was not nominated. It may have the best Editing out of all the movies nominated. The film moved seamlessly from one scene to another, not feeling choppy, as with The Hurt Locker and, at times, Inglourious Basterds. The screenplay was fantastic. No lines felt out of place or hackneyed. Perhaps it will win that if picture/director are not honored. As for Best Actress, I don't think they will give it to Gabourey Sidibe. She is young, and the Academy tends to honor younger actors with simply the nomination, trusting that they will grow to produce work that is worthy of an Oscar. As for Mo'nique, she might just steal it from Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was a more difficult role, to be sure, and she put her soul into it. She had me feeling sorry for her and being disgusted with her at the same time. That is hard to do! So I may just have to start cheering for her, no matter how talented Gyllenhaal was in her role. It is so tough this year to choose from the acting categories! I feel like the movies were lightweights, but the actors in them really blew me away.