Precious (2009) - Overcoming adversity showcased in gripping drama

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+ Best Adaptation of the Year + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year

 

New-comer Gabourey Sidibe in the title role wears a crown and butterfly wings on this poster for Lee Daniels' Precious

Precious doesn't have an enviable life: She's 16 years old; her weight is that of a small elephant; she's pregnant for the second time in her life; and the child is her own father's.

 

Precious is written by Geoffrey Fletcher (Violet & Daisy (2011)), based on the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire (The Kid (2011)), and co-produced and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer (2005)).

The girl's mother is one of the meanest, ugliest characters to go down in cinema history, played eminently by Mo'Nique (Blackbird (2014)). Gabourey Sidibe (Antebellum (2020)) is terrific too, as are other female actors in Precious: Paula Patton (Warcraft (2016)) is beautiful and excellent. The dream sequences make us 100 % aligned with the trialed teenager and her dreams of escape. Despite the grim realities, this is also a film with hope, even though I could have wished for that extra little oomph in the ending.

Precious is hard to forget. It puts things in perspective. It is a beautiful and fantastic film. 

 

Related posts:

Lee Daniels: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

The Butler/Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) - Whitaker and Winfrey shine in Dainels' cathartic, insightful historic drama 
The Paperboy (2012) - Daniels' off-putting and interesting Florida-yarn huffs and puffs

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil.  $

Box office: 63.6 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.36 times its cost)

[Precious premiered 16 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place from October 2007 - January 2008 in New York. The film opened #12 to a 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in 18 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #3 and in 1,003 theaters (different weeks), grossing 47.5 mil. $ (74.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 2.7 mil. $ (4.2 %) and the UK with 1.9 mil. $ (3 %). The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique) and Adapted Screenplay. It lost Best Picture to The Hurt Locker, Actress to Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, Director to Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker and Editing also to The Hurt Locker. It also won 1/4 BAFTA nominations, 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, 5 Independent Spirit awards, an AFI award and a National Board of Review award, among countless other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The film sold more than 1.5 mil. DVD's in its first week of release in North America. Daniels returned with The Paperboy (2012). Sidibe returned in Yelling to the Sky (2011); Mo'Nique in Steppin: The Movie (2009). Precious is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Precious?

Monster's Ball (2001) - Performances ignite Forster's heavy drama

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Three stars in different dimensions, praise from Roger Ebert and a sundown color scheme is used on this gritty poster for Marc Forster's Monster's Ball

A correctional officer at death row in a Georgia prison is readying his son to facilitate his first execution, following in his father's footsteps. But although it takes place, other things go awry, and the man re-evaluates his life, meanwhile he begins a relationship with the widow of an executed prisoner.

 

Monster's Ball is written by Milo Addica (Birth (2004)) and Will Rokos (Shadowboxer (2005)) and directed by great German-American filmmaker Marc Forster (Loungers (1995)). The title refers to a get-together that corrections officers and a prisoner about to be executed arrange on the night before the death sentence is carried out.

Thematically heavily loaded (executions, guilt, shame, abuse, racism and suicide), this serious drama moves forward thanks to fine performances from Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs (A Raisin in the Sun (2008, TV movie)), Billy Bob Thornton (Chrystal (2004)), Halle Berry (X-Men (2000)), Coronji Calhoun as Berry's son Tyrell, and Peter Boyle (Sweet Evil (1996)) as Thornton's racist father. The 'lump of sugar' that the film offers up to counter its depressing scenarios, is erotica that liven up scenes between Thornton and Berry, although I won't rule out that there are also instances of Oscar-bait overacting and exaggerations here and there.

Monster's Ball is a film about survival, riding with the waves and continuing life, when it gets dark and paradoxical. It is a fine film.

 

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Machine Gun Preacher (2011) - Butler finds faith and a Sudanese purpose in Forster's incredible true story

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Finding Neverland (2004) - Forster and an inspired cast strike gold with story of Peter Pan's creation 

Halle Berry talks to Roger Ebert about the film in a 2-minute video here 

 

Cost: 4 mil. $

Box office: 45 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 11.25 times its cost)

[Monster's Ball premiered 11 November (AFI Fest, USA) and runs 111 minutes. Addica and Rokos wrote the screenplay in 1995, inspired by their difficult relationships with their fathers. Shooting took 5 weeks from May - June 2000 in Louisiana. Berry was reportedly paid 600k $ for her performance. The film opened #29 to a 110k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 676 theaters (different weeks), grossing 31.2 mil. $ (69.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.5 mil. $ (7.8 %) and Australia with 1 mil. $ (2.2 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Original Screenplay, lost to Julian Fellowes for Gosford Park, and Best Actress (Berry), which she won. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, 2 AFI awards, won a prize in Berlin, was nominated for an Independent Spirit award, won 3 National Board of Review awards and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Forster returned with Finding Neverland (2004). Thornton returned in CatDog: The Great Parent Mystery (2001, TV movie), Billy Bob Thornton: Angelina (2001, music video) and theatrically in The Badge (2002); Berry in The Bernie Mac Show (2002, TV-series) and theatrically in Die Another Day (2002); and Heath Ledger (Paws (1997)) in The Four Feathers (2002). Monster's Ball is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.34/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Monster's Ball?

The Butler/Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) - Whitaker and Winfrey shine in Dainels' cathartic, insightful historic drama

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+ Best Political Movie of the Year

A refined butler shows a protesting world a brave face from a window in the White House on this powerful poster for Lee Daniels' The Butler

A black boy,s whose father is murdered on the cotton farm in the South where he grows up, is later in life accepted as a butler in the White House under president Eisenhower, continuing to serve under the leadership of the seven subsequent presidents, as the country goes through great changes.

The Butler is a distinguished film written by Danny Strong (Game Change (2012, TV movie), based on the Washington Post article A Butler Well Served by This Election by Wil Haygood (Two on the River (1986)), which concerned White House butler Eugene Allen, and directed as the 4th feature by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer (2005)). Although the film is only very loosely based on Eugene Allen's life, which was different in many ways from the film's butler, Daniels' film comes off as a soberly and thoroughly professionally handled historical biopic drama.
It is led by Oscar-worthy performances from Forest Whitaker (Repo Men (2010)) and Oprah Winfrey (Selma (2014)), who are truly moving as the titular butler and his wife. The Butler is eminent storytelling that should heal wounds and contribute to a deeper understanding of the different experiences and circumstances of especially whites and blacks during the 20th century, - in America as in many other parts of the world.
The Butler is emotionally charged without ever becoming too much. Among its fine supporting actors David Oyelowo (Nightingale (2014)) as Whitaker's rebellious son, Cuba Gooding Jr. (Life of a King (2013)) as his work-pal, Robin Williams (August Rush (2007)) as Pres. Eisenhower, Liev Schreiber (Defiance (2008)) as Pres. Johnson and Alan Rickman (David Harbor (1998)) as Pres. Reagan all give commendable, strong performances.

Related posts:

Lee Daniels: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
The Paperboy (2012) - Daniels' off-putting and interesting Florida-yarn huffs and puffs

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 176.5 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The Butler premiered 5 August (New York) and runs 132 minutes. Funding for the independent production began coming together in 2011 as something of a puzzle. The title was changed to Lee Daniels' The Butler in North America, because Warner Bros. made a claim to the title due to a now-lost 1916 short of the same title ('The Butler' that is). Filming took place in Louisiana, including New Orleans, from June - October 2012, delayed from a scheduled August end due to Hurricane Isaac. Among the things in the film that were different in Allen's real life is that he wasn't from Georgia, didn't experience the trauma concerning his parents that's in the film, and that his son wasn't a radical. The film's portrayal of Pres. Reagan's stance towards South-Africa's apartheid is also contested. The film opened #1 to a 24.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 2 weeks before spending a week as #2 and one as #4 and then leaving the top 5, grossing 116.6 mil. $ (66.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 16.9 mil. $ (9.6 %) and Italy with 7 mil. $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars, translating to a notch less than this review. The film was nominated for 2 BAFTAs and many other awards and honors, - but not a single Oscar. Daniels went on to work on TV-series Empire (2015-17) and Star (2016-17) as director-writer-producer. He is slated to direct a remake of the 1983 drama Terms of Endearment starring Winfrey. The Butler is fresh at 72 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Butler?