An Education is Precious

SPOILER ALERT: If you plan to see either of these films, don't read on.
Recently, Mr S and I journeyed downtown to the Regal Fox Tower to catch an inspiring double feature of An Education and Precious. Little did we know at the time, these movies are very similar. Both are about a girl turning seventeen, coming"of age", as they say, and experiencing life's little hiccups. Also, both films are uplifting in the sense that they make you happy you are not the main characters.
There's nothing quite like watching movies about miserable people to help you feel better about your life. Why, I remember like it was yesterday seeing Revolutionary Road with my guy. We loved it! It really put our relationship in a new light. I can honestly say neither of us has ever had to chase the other out of the house and into the forest, AND neither of us has given ourself a home abortion and died. So, really, our lives smell pretty sweet.
Anyway, back to An Education, the young lady playing the protagonist, Jenny, is quite a find. She gives a very honest and understated performance as only the British can, and her performance is perfectly balanced by Alfred Molina as her father. Molina is British, but it is hard to see him that way anymore after his stints as Doc Ock and Tevye. Not to mention his portrayal of Diego Rivera. I'm really not sure where he's from anymore. So when I watch him on screen, I feel like I am watching Doc Tevye Rivera. It's a weird juxtaposition.
The man leading Jenny astray is played by Peter Saarsgaard. I am not really sure how many A's he has in his name, but it's too many. He is not British at all, but he plays a Brit in the film which led me to wonder, "Are Brits watching this and saying 'Oh, it's a good thing he was available to play this role since there are not many actual English male actors available to play it'?" I wonder that because that is the reverse of what I say when I watch Hollywood-based TV shows that star British and Australian actors as American characters. Digression.
The film details Jenny making some bad decisions, being misdirected and ultimately becoming a woman and getting back on track, with no help from that evil Emma Thompson who clearly hates all young women ever since Helena stole Kenneth. All in all, an enjoyable film.
But nothing could prepare us for the second feature, Precious. Actually, that's not true. The trailer and the hype did a pretty good job of preparing us.
Precious is the new comedy from Oprah and Tyler Perry. You might say "Comedy? Vraiment?" And I say, oui. I cannot possibly be expected to take any movie seriously where Monique plays an acerbic drunk, and the main character names her Downs Syndrome child "Mongo." Seriously? Can you? Needless to say, this movie was a laugh a minute. At least, a laugh every five minutes.
How can you not laugh when Monique, sitting on a couch with a grandchild in her lap and a cocktail in her hand, gets up abruptly and drops the kid. Through my laughter, I did hear some gasps in the theater, but I am confident those people were just masking their impulse to chuckle.
In the movie, Precious gets knocked up by her dad a couple times, and it really irritates her mom who is worried that the dad now prefers Precious. It made me think that Oprah is following a certain pattern of films. She gets really excited about movies where the central character is a young girl who is abused, can't speak English and goes around muttering to God all day. Think about it. The Color Purple, Precious, Hairspray. They all have that in common.
Anyway, we walked out on a high note. At the end of Precious, Mariah Carey steps in and saves the day by making Monique feel guilty for dropping the baby. Precious mutters something in Swahili that is obviously a curse on Monique, and they go their separate ways.
If you are looking for colorful entertainment (not a racist slur), I suggest A Precious Education.