.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

When attending the premiere of Precious at the luxurious Roy Thompson Hall as part of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival you couldn't help but think you were about to witness something spectacular. The air was electric with excitement and the Queen of Daytime television - Ms. Oprah Winfrey, herself - was there on hand as the film's executive producer.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire had already had screenings in select circles and the buzz circulating from these events was that the film was on its way to a Best Picture nomination.

Always a fan of the small, independent type films that seem to come out of nowhere and tell the true and sometimes hard to watch stories of average everyday people was something that had always appealed to me, so expectations were considerable.

At the end of the screening, the audience stood and applauded in unison appraisal of the finished product. But I didn't quite get what all the fuss was about.

Precious tells the story of Claireece 'Precious' Jones (Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe) - a young, fat and pregnant black girl who has been repeatedly raped by her father and abused by her mother. Without an education or adequate social skills, we watch as Precious tries to deal with the hardships of growing up as a young mother in Harlem.

Understanding that her plight is getting more severe with each abuse, Precious moves out, has her second child and with the aid of a teacher named Blue Rain (Paula Patton), Precious does her best to survive and achieve an education that will allow her to explore other opportunities.

Reviews of Precious have used words like, "Impressive", "Astonishing" and "Brilliant". But I found it more mediocre that would seem my peers.

I will agree on one point. Mo'Nique who plays Precious' mother gives a powerful performance that will likely put her name on ballots beside Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore this winter. Mariah Carey in a small but important role appears as a social worker, but too much has been put on the fact that Mariah was not wearing make-up and looked nothing like the Diva we see on MTV. Sans make-up does not mean great performance.

Director Lee Daniels uses a few too many tricks for my liking. Every time Precious encounters something that is hurtful or alarming, she takes herself to an imaginary world where she is a movie star or model being photographed and hounded by fans. These scenes - which were plenty - just didn't work for me and took away some of the realism of the situation.

Precious will end up being one of those movies to likely not meet the high expectations set by the critic community. It's up to a staggering 91% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com. The film is indeed good, scattered with above average performances, but it isn't a Sling Blade or even an All The Real Girls.
And even in the most emotional of scenes, you probably won't be cheering or crying in your theatre seat.

Precious is good, but 'precious'? Hardly.