Mo'Nique for Oscar?

The other day I was watching the Broken Lizard film Beerfest on television. I had no real interest in the film other than my inherent love for a previous Broken Lizard film entitled Super Troopers (one of the more underrated comedies on the past decade). I bring this up because the film had an interesting supporting role played by "big, loud, and proud" comedienne Mo'Nique, as a backstabbing woman who has trouble suppressing sexual urges. This is not outside the prototype for most film roles MoNique has had.

Nowadays, though, people have been talking about Mo'Nique a bit differently. As in: future Academy Award nominee. Sure, it's silly to be talking about future nominations in April, but the raves she's getting for her supporting role in the film Precious are avalanching quickly. The film had a spark at Sundance, and now buzz is growing as trailers were seen by anyone who paid money to see Madea Goes To Jail (yet another cruel trick played upon anyone who doesn't want to get sucked into Tyler Perry mania).

I don't know what to think of Precious, really. The film's plot is about a young, illiterate girl (newcomer Gabby Sidibe) who's pregnant with her second child. Details about the plot are sketchy, since so few have seen it, but other supporting players include Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz. The film was originally entitled Push, but because of an attrocious film which came out earlier this year, they've had to change the title to avoid confusion (smart move, who would want to get mixed up with that hunk of crap?).

The consistent reaction to the film, though, is that Mo'Nique's performance is a show-stopper. There's one of these every year: one actor nobody had any hope or faith in comes out and does something amazing. Last year, it was Mickey Rourke; a couple of years ago it was Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children. Could this year's surprise performance really come from Mo'Nique? Sure seems so. I eat these kinds of stories up, and I surely hope this performance lives up to the hype, cause I'd love to see her grace Hollywood's red carpet with all the industry elite--it's always fun to see someone crash the party.