In Harlem, an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enrol in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
Based on the best selling novel Push by author Sapphire, Precious takes you into the very troubled world of Claireece Precious Jones superbly played by first time actress Gabourey Sidibe. Aged 17, weighing in at 25 stone and unable to read Precious does not have the best starts in life. Her home life details the reasons for her situation and here enters her sadistic mother Mary Lee Johnston, wonderfully played by comedieene Mo'Nique and fully deserving her Golden Globe award.
Precious goes into her own world to deal with the pain she suffers at home at the hands of her jobless mother who physically and sexually abuses her and claims child benefit for the child Precious had by her own father. The film starts with Precious pregnant a second time by her father. She gets kicked out of school and has to join a special school where she starts to deal with her tumultuous life helped by her lesbian teacher.
Although not autobiographical the books' author Sapphire, who describes herself as bisexual, included aspects of her own personal experiences such as being abused by her father and abandoned by her mother in the story. One of her students when she was an adult education teacher had a Down's syndrome daughter by her own father at the age of 12.
Leaving embarrassing acting roles in the past, a stripped down Mariah Carey shows she can be more than a high note hitting song bird who can pull the rabbit out of the hat and act. Although she still has some way to go which is evident in the final scene between her Social Worker character and Mary Lee Johnson, she shines in the role. A must see film that is not for those of you who prefer a fairy tale view of the world. The story is raw, gritty and hits the bone from the very first scene. Precious is undoubtedly the best films around and if it does not make you appreciate your life more, nothing else will.
Precious is a heart-warming and painful story that will melt your core and make your spirit fly high. It follows Clarireece an overweight, illiterate, HIV-positive girl from Harlem who's got pregnant by her father, twice, is beat-up by her mother and mocked by the kids at her school. It may not be the most cheery of films, but Precious based on the gripping book "Push" by Sapphire, is a film that beats you down to the ground with it's hopelessness, then scrapes you off the floor and builds you back up in ways that you never thought imaginable. Confused? Well watch the film and see what I mean for yourself!
Verdict
Precious is a film that holds you tight and won't let go - you'll be thinking about it long after the credits roll! In my opinion, this is one of the best films of 2009 and is well worth adding to your collection!
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Winner of three awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, including Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, Lee Daniels' Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire is a vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome. Set in Harlem in 1987, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire is the story of Claireece "Precious" Jones, a sixteen year old African-American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write. Precious may sometimes be down, but she is never out. Beneath her impassive expression is a watchful, curious young woman with an unshakeable sense that other possibilities exist for her. Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school, Each One/Teach One. Precious doesn't know the meaning of "alternative", but her instincts tell her this is the chance she has been waiting for. In the literacy workshop taught by the patient yet firm Ms Rain, Precious begins a journey that will lead her from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination. Winner of the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique. Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique) & Best Adapted Screenplay.
A gritty, life-affirming tale of an abused African-American teenager's struggle to change her life in 1980s Harlem. 16-year-old Clareece 'Precious' Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) has been abused from an early age by her now absent father, and is pregnant with his second child. With a venomous mother Mary (Mo'Nique) who treats her like a servant and her school life blighted by her illiteracy, Precious struggles to cope with her seemingly hopeless life. But the offer of a place in an alternative school and the nurturing of literacy teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) soon begin to transform the teenager, offering her a path to a brighter future. Mo'Nique won the Best Supporting Actress awards at both the 2010 BAFTAs and the Academy Awards for her portrayal of Mary.
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