Despite the earnest warnings of Armond White and New York’s David Edelstein, moviegoers in nine cities descended on their local multiplexes over the weekend in large enough numbers to give Lee Daniels’s Oprah-backed Precious an incredible $100,000 per-screen average, the highest ever for a film at more than six locations. But what did they think about the Oscar contender that some have feared might be too bleak for mainstream audiences? On Saturday, we dispatched New York’s Mike Vilensky, R.J. Bone, and Beth Stebner to the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 — not far from where the film takes place — to ask folks what they thought of Precious’s awards hopes and Mariah Carey’s mustache.
