Paula Patton

Paula Patton’s Ms. Rain offers help in Precious (2009), and the film badly needs her. We felt relief at her presence, because her kindness gives Precious something to respond to besides cruelty. Lee Daniels presses the pain too hard at times, but the support his central character receives from other women matters. Patton makes a welcome contribution to a moving, uneven drama whose strongest claim on our attention remains Gabourey Sidibe.

Before Ms. Rain, Patton had gained notice as the female lead opposite Denzel Washington in Déjà Vu (2006). The turn to action came with Jane Carter in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), a role involving physical performance and stunts. She is often cast as capable professional women, and action gives that competence something practical to accomplish. There is good reason to pursue that side of her work, rather than confine her to the sympathetic teacher. The physical commitment is worth encouraging, though it is the ensemble drama that gives us the firmer recommendation.

We would not ask Ms. Rain to take over Precious: Sidibe gives the central character a life beyond what has been done to her. Patton and Mariah Carey’s Ms. Weiss matter because that life includes receiving help, not only enduring harm. Fletcher’s screenplay is most convincing when it allows Precious humour and a response beyond misery. Patton’s part belongs in those passages that keep the film from becoming a dutiful exercise in watching someone suffer. That is a substantial contribution even when the attention is rightly elsewhere.

The caution concerns the material. Some of her romantic-comedy leads, including Baggage Claim (2013), have appeared in films met with mixed or negative notices. Those notices do not, by themselves, establish a weakness in her acting, and we would not pretend otherwise. For Patton, start with Precious; be prepared for Daniels to press harder than he needs to.