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That montage of horror clips shown at the Academy Awards ceremony last Sunday might have included yet another monster: the mother-from-Hell played by deserving Oscar-winner Mo'Nique.
Her toxic relationship with screen daughter Claireece "Precious" Jones is the riveting starting point in a tale of love and spiritual redemption. The phrase "uplifting" is often overused in film criticism, but in this case, despite no promises of happily-ever-after, "Precious" is powerfully moving.
There was something in Sapphire's story of an overweight, illiterate, abused and pregnant Harlem teen that spoke to producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. "I am a busy woman," Ms. Winfrey says in a DVD extra interview. "I don't go looking for things to do."
Mo'Nique's character, "It spoke to me," said Mr. Perry, citing his own abusive father.
Other extras include star Gabourey Sidibe's remarkable audition, conversations with Sapphire -- a performance poet who notes that early versions of "Push" were not centered on the character of Precious, but then she realized, "I had to let her tell the story."
There's also audio commentary from director Lee Daniels, who remembers taking Geoffrey Fletcher's "sanitized" screenplay -- which also won an Oscar -- "and threw some dirt on it."
"Precious" is not an easy movie to watch, but well worth it. In a movie season featuring strange new worlds populated by wild, winged beasts, and brave men defusing bombs in the Middle East, it's a reminder that some horrors can be found much closer to home.
-- By Maria Sciullo, Post-Gazette staff writer
George Clooney is not a hard actor to "get." He has been in a few successful films, more than his share of bombs, one very popular movie franchise and a long-running television series before he made the leap to the silver screen. His appeal, even in the films that don't do very well, owes a lot to his good looks and old school movie star charisma. He's clever and suave in the mode of Cary Grant and a generation of actors who used to speak quickly and sip their Scotch slowly.
In "Up in the Air," Mr. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, the not-so-brooding loner in director Jason Reitman's witty adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel of middle management alienation. Bingham spends most of his life in airports and on the road. He's an unflappable hired hand brought in to fire corporate employees with equanimity and zero guilt. His only passion in life is the accumulation of 10 million frequent flyer miles and maintaining a Spartan existence with few, if any, connections.
When Bingham meets Alex (Vera Farmiga), a female version of himself, he reconsiders his life choices. He finally has found someone worth giving up a rootless existence for, but it isn't clear that the feeling is mutual. Through his relationship with Alex and a young co-worker (Anna Kendrick) who joins him on the road, Bingham begins to yearn for what had previously been taboo -- a settled life.
"Up in the Air" is one of those sweet, funny, slightly askew films that lives up to its reputation as a movie of its time. Its portrayal of economic dislocation is a bitter truth that swirls just beneath the surface of this film at all times. The DVD is light on extras, although it contains several deleted scenes that would have heightened the audience's understanding of the characters. There is also an unnecessary interview with the company that created the film's title sequences. Other than that, "Up in the Air" is about as good as it gets.
-- Tony Norman, Post-Gazette staff writer
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