Precious

Plot synopsis:
The movies starts off with a picture of a red scarf hanging off a street lamp and then flying through the air.Harlem, 1987. Clarice Precious Jones (Gabourey Sildibe) is in a math class, daydreaming. She is wearing a red scarf. Much of the film is in first-person narration. She narrates, My name is Clarice Precious Jones. I want to be on the cover of a magazine. I wish I had a light-skinned boyfriend with good hair. But first I want to be in one of those BET videos, and we see a fantasy sequence of her dressed in a photo-shoot, accompanied with a light-skinned boyfriend (who will be in all her future movie sequences.) She also says I 'm gonna break through, someone is going to break through to me, ima be normal and sit in the front of the class.She has a crush on the math teacher Mr. Wicher (Bill Sage). She narrates that she likes math. The class is rowdy and when a student responds to Mr. Wicher with cuss word, Precious slaps that student and says to Mr. Wicher, I got your back. She narrates that she and Mr. Wicher will move away and live together in Westchester. A student comes in with a note saying that the principal wants to see Precious.In the principals office, the principal, Mrs. Lichtenstein asks if Precious is pregnant again and how could this happen. The principal lays out the facts for Precious: shes 16, pregnant again, and attends junior high. The principal wants to move Precious to an alternative school. The principal asks the mom to come to a meeting but when Precious protests, Mrs. Lichtenstein says that she can visit her mom.Precious is at home washing dishes when her mom, Mary, (MoNique) who is unemployed and watches $10,000 Pyramid all day, asks Precious if she is going to start cooking. Mary then throws a heavy pan at Precious and knocks her out. Cut to a flashback of Precious's father raping her. Then we enter Precious's fantasy world where she goes to feel safe when she is overwhelmed by the horror around her. In this fantasy sequence she is attending a movie premiere, dressed in red, when it starts to rain. The rain is actually her mother, Mary (MoNique), throwing water on Precious's face to rouse Precious from the floor.Precious is cooking dinner when the doorbell buzzes (they live in a typical run-down New York tenement building- although it is not typical for apartments to have two floors). It is Mrs. Lichtenstein, who wants to talk to mom. Precious tells her off, but Mrs. Lichtenstein stays on the intercom to tell Precious about the alternative school, Each One, Teach One. After the principal leaves, Mary becomes extremely upset and verbally abuses Precious, blaming her for bringing the white b*tch to her house, in that having any visitors snooping around might jeopardize the welfare check payment. (Mary is scamming the system). Mary continues: she blames Precious for stealing her man, saying that school is of no use for Precious, that Precious is fat and undesirable, and that she should have aborted Precious. Mary then rushes to beat Precious.At night Precious looks at a photo album to console herself. The photos talk to her (more fantasy). In the morning, before Precious leaves the house, she adjusts herself in the mirror but sees herself in the reflection as a white blond girl. (For you psychology buffs out there- it seems that Precious may suffer from a dissociative disorder- which would not be surprising given the level of abuse she has endured). Precious goes to Each One, Teach One, where the receptionist, who Precious refers to as Cornrows (Sherri Shepard), gives her a placement test. It is clear that Precious is illiterate by the way she takes the test and narrates that tests paint pictures of me with no brain. On her way back, a group of thugs sexually harass her and then one pushes her down when she doesn't respond. Cut to a fantasy sequence of her dancing in an Apollo-like stage and her boyfriend licking her ear, but it is really a dog licking her ear while she is down on the ground. She returns to her building and runs into a little girl, Ruby, who pesters her.It is another day and Precious needs money for food before leaving house. But mom is too busy in bed, pleasuring herself, but asks Precious to come up and take care of her. She says, I wish she would stop that shit - meaning the sexual abuse. Afterward Precious goes to a fried-chicken shop and orders a bucket of chicken, but runs off with it without paying. She eats the whole bucket on the way to school and then throws up (perhaps showing a habit of binge-eating or maybe it is because she is pregnant).At the alternative school, the teacher, Ms. Blue Rain (Paula Patton), calls Precious to class and tells the class the purpose of the school is to prepare them for the GED. We are introduced to five other students. She asks each student to write and say their name, favorite color, talent, and why they are in the alternative class. The students say their items, but when its Precious's turn she asks to be skipped. Ms. Rains goes on teaching but Precious speaks up. Precious is scared, says that she is not good at anything, to which Mrs. Rain replies that everyone is good at something. Precious says that her favorite color is yellow and that she can cook and that she has never really talked in class before. Ms. Rain asks her how that makes her feel, and she replies it makes me feel here. (no need for fantasy/dissociation) Ms. Rain gives the class a journal and tells them to write anything they are feeling. Precious narrates that she has gotten As in English without having to do anything.It is another day in the alternative classroom and Ms. Rain calls some students up to write the alphabets. Precious volunteers to write the letter f but after that a student says, F for fat, (Precious is around 300 pounds), which results in a fight. Precious stays after class because of the fight, and Ms. Rain asks Precious to read a page of children's book. Precious struggles to put together the word day, cut to flashback of Mary calling Precious a dumb b*itch.Precious returns home to find her mom pissed off because Precious went to the alternative school, and missed the regular school, which would cut into the welfare checks. Mary berates Precious, saying that She cant learn sh*t, that Precious should better get her ass to welfare to start getting welfare. Mary demands that Precious cook for her. Precious cooks a seemingly good meal of pigs feet and accompaniments but Mary explodes when she doesn't see collard greens as a dish, saying who can eat pigs feet without collard greens. Mary forces Precious to eat the meal, explaining that since Precious f*cked up the meal, she has to eat it, even though Precious isn't hungry. Precious eats the food in front of mom and breaks into a fantasy of being in an old Italian movie with Sophia Loren in it (since that is what Mary was watching at the time).Precious is at the welfare office (a regular check-in is required) talking to a social worker Mrs. Weiss (an almost unrecognizable Mariah Carey without makeup). Mrs. Weiss asks Precious about her home life, and about the firstborn, who Precious named Mongo (short for Mongoloid, because the baby has Down syndrome). Flashback to grandma handing the baby to Mary (grandma has been taking care of the baby), Mary putting on a wig to soften her appearance and changing to a soft tone, and conning the social worker who came to check up on them. (Mary claims that she loves and takes care of her grandchild, and is also diligently looking for a job. After the social worker left, Mary says, Get that MotherF#$%er off me (talking about the baby).Cut back to Precious talking to Ms. Weiss. Precious slips that her gave her this baby and the one before. Mrs. Weiss presses Precious, who at first tries to spin it away, but then relents to tell the truth: that she delivered the first baby on the kitchen floor while her mother was kicking her in the head. Precious is relieved that she doesn't have to lie anymore, but knows that her mother is going to be furious- because her telling the truth is going to stop the checks from coming.The alternative school is having a good effect on Precious. On a class trip to the museum, Precious realizes that she wants to teach her babies, and that she will keep the undelivered baby.In class, the students are reading their journal entries about fairy-tales. Precious goes to the front of class to read, but she goes into labor. She is rushed to the hospital. After delivering the newborn (named Abdul Jamal Jones), the students visit Precious. The students kid with Precious's male nurse, John McFadden (Lenny Kravitz), making fun that he is a male nurse. John tells the students how McDonald's is bad and fattening while eating his fruit cups. He leaves with a kiss to Precious's forehead. Precious corresponds with Ms. Rain using the journal which a student ferries back and forth. Ms. Rain asks Precious if she plans to keep the baby. Precious writes yes, and Ms. Rains tells Precious that her responsibility is to take care of herself, and that her learning to read and write is everything.It is around Christmas, and John gives Precious a card with a twenty-dollar bill in it when Precious is discharged. She brings Abdul home and runs into the little girl (Ruby) who pesters her. Mary is not happy she asks where Precious has been but also asks to hold the baby. Cooing at first, she throws the baby down and throws a glass at Precious. Precious has ruined her life, she claims, when Precious revealed the truth and welfare cut off the checks. She also asks Precious, does she think she is better because the father gave her instead of Mary a baby. Precious grabs the baby and runs out of the apartment, falling down the flight of stairs and avoiding a TV dropped down by Mary, but protecting the baby. Precious is upset and as she leaves she runs into Ruby, the little girl who continues to pester. She responds by slamming her into a wall as she tries to get by her and leave.Precious walks out in the streets, where it is snowing. She sees a church and looks into the window and sees a church choir practicing, which leads to a fantasy sequence of her in a gospel choir. The next day, Ms. Rain and Cornrows arrived at the school building but sees that it has been broken into. Ms. Rains finds the baby Abdul with Precious, who feels sorry that Ms. Rain is now pressed into the role of a social worker. While Ms. Rains is working the phones to find a place for Precious to stay, one of the students is teaching the class (funny scene).She finally finds a halfway house for Precious and Abdul, but Precious first spends overnight with Ms. Rain. Precious meets Ms. Rains live-in female partner. (Precious: Oh my God, shes a straight-up lesbian!) They are both warm toward Precious, even giving her a Christmas present. This scene is significant because its the first time she's treated like an adult, and engaging in an "adult conversation" with Ms. Rain and her partner. Even though the two of them are more intellectual and use big words and analogies in their conversation, they kindly respond when Precious brings up McDonalds or Oprah. Ms. Rain's partner is trying to write a book. Ms. Rain mentions that Precious writes everyday, and Precious says she writes about her life and Abdul.At the halfway house, Precious grows. She says that its a halfway house because it is halfway between the old and new life. There, she gets stipends and received an award for literacy (maybe most improved?). There is a party for her where John is invited. John finds Ms. Rains attractive but Precious takes John to introduce her to Cornrow. Cornrow is on the phone arguing with her boyfriend but hangs up when she sees John. (A lot of scenes earlier show Cornrow arguing on phone with her boyfriend). One day Precious gets an unexpected visitor. Its Mary, bearing news that Precious's father has died of AIDS. Precious asks if Mary is HIV positive but Mary says no since they never had anal sex. Precious urges Mary to get tested, then leaves the building.In class, everyone is writing in the journals except for Precious. Ms. Rains presses Precious who tearfully reveals that shes HIV positive (but not Abdul -- an earlier scene shows her going to a clinic) from her father raping her. Ms. Rain, in tears, urges Precious to write for all those who love her. Precious declares that nobody loves her. Ms. Rains says, but people do love you. Precious responds, "don't lie to me, love aint ever done anything for me, it beats me down." But Ms. Rains responds, "The babies love you, I love you."Cut to welfare office, where Precious is kidding with Mrs. Weiss, at one point asking her what race she is (inside joke for Mariah Carey?). In this scene Precious reports that she see's vampires in her room at night who leave through the floor to go to the people down stairs. (not sure if she is actually hallucinating- or just pulling Ms. Weiss's leg) Mrs. Weiss reveals that Mary wants to be reunited with Precious.Cut to the class where Ms. Rains asks what each students dreams are. Precious says that she wants to work and take care of the babies, and reveals that she knows that the welfare center will set up work for her. (She had swiped her file from the welfare center in the earlier scene.)At the welfare center, Precious is sitting and waiting next to the little girl who had pestered Precious and is now sporting a black eye (she obviously is abused at home too). Precious takes out her red scarf from her purse and wraps it around Ruby, making her smile. Precious meets Mary and Mrs. Weiss in a cubicle. Mrs. Weiss wants to know about the abuses. At first Mary displays mock outrage saying that Precious knows better than to have drugs in the house, but Mrs. Weiss says, not that kind of abuse, the physical and sexual abuse. Tearfully Mary lets out that when she was making love with her boyfriend Carl (Preciouss father), Precious (aged 3) was asleep next to them, and the boyfriend would molest and have sex with Precious. Mrs. Weiss asks, how she can let the boyfriend continue to molest and have sex with the three year old. Mary says that how else would she get Carl to love her, to keep Carl from leaving. Marys crying that she feels alone and that Precious stole the Carl's love for Mary and that's why she is hateful toward Precious. She stops crying briefly, while Ms. Weiss sits there looking horrified and Precious sits calmly, her face unreadable. Mary says she was told Precious was writing poems, doing well, then brings in Mongo and says she wants them to be a family. But Precious says no. She explains that on a recent test, she has progressed from a reading score of 2.8 to 7.8, meaning she is reading at near eighth-grade level, that she'll go on to high school and then college. Precious takes baby Mongo and leaves, saying that Ms. Weiss cant "handle me, and you can't handle this". She says that Mary "cant have my baby", and is "not gonna see me no more".Mary pleads with Ms. Weiss to get Precious to come back to her. If there was any doubt before, this scene really shows how mentally ill Mary is. Ms. Weiss responds with understandable horror.The last scene is of Precious walking down the street, carrying Abdul and holding Mongo's hands, showing strength and a possible good beginning for her own little family inspite of her struggles.

Tags: realism, dramatic, violence, flashback, inspiring, romantic

Review:
A common disparagement condemns the movie as "emotionally manipulative" and "superficially inspirational", much like other films that fall into the category of the "inspirational dramas" depicting stories of individuals overcoming obstacles and hardships that many people seem to hate.
I personally found the scenario portrayed in the film to be strikingly realistic, and I think that people who are too ignorant to realize that such a grim existence can feasibly be led in 21st century America need a serious wake-up call.One aspect of the film that deserves all the praise in the world is its cast, specifically the performances of its lead actresses and the surprising and unexpected quality of these performances considering the particular thespians involved.
Mariah Carey plays a social worker who takes a personal interest in Precious' case and, in the film's most dramatically gut-wrenching scene, makes a genuine attempt to bridge the gap between the teenager and her monstrous mother.
Unlike Mariah Carey, Patton never did anything to totally remove my confidence in her acting abilities, but then again, she's never actually given what can really be considered a "good" performance, which is what makes her tender and genuine turn in this film most impressive.
Finally, I just felt that while many separate scenes work wonderfully and are emotional and genuinely gut-wrenching, they are just too loosely connected for the film to actually carry a consistent dramatic arc throughout, as it jumps between Precious' brutal home life to her newfound support in her classroom to her day-to-day activities to her inner fantasies.
There are plenty of underclass females much closer to an early grave and utter hopelessness than she.The story takes us on the journey of this monstrously mistreated young female from near destruction at the hands of her violent, hyper-narcissistic mother (Mo'Nique) and her rapist father (who has impregnated her twice by age 16) to a rescue with the help of a frayed but still somewhat viable network of dedicated social workers who help her gain literacy and independence from her wicked elders.Interspersed with the depressing realities of ghetto life is the constant flow of Precious's glamorous daydreams, the little fires generated by her undying spark of life, her only opening toward beauty and light, imagining herself wrapped in beautiful gowns, doted on by handsome men, cheered by adoring crowds on the red carpet; wealth, fame, as she knows them from the pop culture that is her only mental nourishment.
Director Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer) has created a very powerful film that manages to entertain while evoking a broad spectrum of emotions, from anger and heartbreaking pity to optimism, joy and hope.Clareece "Precious" Jones (Gabby Sidibe) is a fat 16-year-old illiterate black girl that lives in Harlem with her welfare-dependent, abusive mother (Mo'Nique).
Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey also have minor roles, giving the film a little star power.Daniels conveys a Harlem existence that is profane, hard-edged and brutal, but with rays of humanity and compassion that leave room for hope.
Granted Daniels in his second directorial effort is not the most subtle of filmmakers (his first film was the strangely exotic "Shadowboxer"), but he does bring a level of florid passion that the subject desperately needs to alleviate the unrelenting bleakness of the title character's existence.Set in Harlem in 1987, the story centers on sixteen-year-old Claireece "Precious" Jones, a morbidly obese girl so void of self-worth that she refers to herself without irony as "ugly black grease to be washed from the street".
The two slowly come together at Precious' new school where she finds acceptance and redemption through a dedicated teacher (improbably named Blu Rain), who must get through to a classroom full of girls all disadvantaged in their own ways.The birth of Precious' son, along with the bonding she feels at school, signals a harrowing showdown between mother and daughter and ultimately a confrontation between Mary and Mrs. Weiss, the no-nonsense social worker who seeks the truth behind Precious' home life.
But not enough of a bias to effect whether or not the film is any good.Precious is the name of the protagonist, (played by Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe), a teenage girl who is one of the most harsh conditions upon our first meeting with her.
Unlike "Requiem for a Dream", which is such a depressing movie you are left with a bad taste in your mouth, Precious is actually a very positive film about how to stand through these trials of life.
We've seen this a lot with dark comedies this decade - from directors like the Coen Brothers, but through those movies we are mostly laughing at the unfortunate events - this time around, we wish we could help but for people in these kind of dark holes, there is nothing we can do to help without damaging ourselves in our attempt to be saint-like.Mo'Nique shows a new side of herself in her performance as the most disgustingly terrible mother you'd never want as your own.
Precious has some really interesting premises for sure but as the story behind the main character unfolds it just gets more and more until its just too much and feels like a cartoon.We are talking about a grotesquely obese illiterate black teen growing up in the worst conditions.
Let me say Mo'Nique plays the hell out of the role and god bless her for that but the director Lee Daniels (fine work otherwise) has given us way too much of a one-leveled, evil, tyrant witch who's reality comes across as false in an otherwise very real world.
The only highlight of the film was getting to watch a 600 lb black woman run down the street devouring a bucket of stolen chicken....I can see this scene replayed in the next Wayans Brothers "whatever" movie (which btw are a lot better than "precious")...Precious does answer one very important question.....what would it look like if Gary Coleman turned into the Incredible Hulk ?.
This is one of those films that makes me want to fight against child abuse and help the unfortunate individuals who can't spell, read, write or barely do anything just like Precious in this movie.
A true touching story of a section of society in America which is realizing its potential.The movie starts with Claireece "Precious" Jones the lead character, in the school where she has been suspended as she is pregnant with her second child at the age of 16.
I was quite pleasantly surprised that I immediately found myself so emotionally wrapped up in this film that I found the fantasy breaks a respite from the overflow of feelings; obviously that's what Precious was feeling at the moments she broke into fantastic reveries during some of the most spiritually crushing moments.I can't say I know it's "easy" to portray a pained, abused teenager with no way out, but I also was not surprised at the authenticity of Sidibe's performance.
Precious finally made her way to the Vancouver International Film Festival last night as did one Mr. Lee Daniels.Overall I am left with a feeling of a movie that at it's heart is simply pandering to give a typical film festival audience what the script writer / director thinks it wants.
After last night's presentation a standing ovation followed and the director applied his impressive charm on the audience to gain, what I am certain will be, another award for the trophy case.It was observed that the usual Exit signs to the theatre to street were turned OFF (though they are left ON for other showings at the film festival) as the sold-out theatre was encouraged to pass by voting boxes.This movie adaptation touches on various dark elements but rather than exploring them takes the mass-appeal route and simply dances around them with fantastical scenes in the manner of an African-American version of Pan's Labyrinth with a side of rape and AIDS.
This powerful slice of poor life seems unremittingly real and when juxtaposed with reality TV, downright authentic.It's not difficult to see why this deeply affecting character study won top prizes from Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto: Its star is a new talent so immersed in her role that to think of her not being Precious is almost impossible, even for a cynic like me.
Proficient with his second film, director Lee Daniels guides diva Mariah Carey into a role as an unforgettably underplayed social worker.For an educator such as I, the classroom scenes at an alternative school where Precious prepares for the G.E.D are inspiring glimpses of how small classrooms with a gifted, patient teacher (Paula Patton as Ms. Rain) can transform the lost causes into productive citizens.
Those scenes and the ones in the hospital where Precious delivers her second child are but brief unreal dreams in their own way of the love that may wait for Precious later in life—not now because her abusive mom still appears and tortures Precious in different ways (skillfully acted by comedienne Mo'Nique).When Precious sees the endearing relationship her beloved teacher has with her partner, she exclaims, "They talk like people in TV shows that I don't watch." It's a brave, new world for her and a sobering joy for us to vicariously suffer and delight with a character whose weight might symbolize the heavy and complicated world that she may never be able completely to escape ..
Oprah produced "Precious" (Based on as novel by Sapphire ), which isn't surprising at all because Lee Daniel's movie is just as good at exploiting other people's pain as the queen herself.
She is Precious Jones (Gabby Sidibe), an illiterate, impoverished and obese 16-year-old who has been repeatedly raped and impregnated by her step-father (who seems to only come around for this very reason), and abused in every which way by her horrible welfare-collecting mother (Monique).
Precious' fellow students in the alternative school were cut-out characters from every movie ever made about inner-city black schools.The mother (played by Mo'Nique) is a welfare case who mopes around in her kitchen, eats and watches TV.
In this case an obese sixteen year old, whose incestuous and virtually unseen father, was also the father of her two children; and whose horrendously abusive mother used Precious and her Down's Syndrome stricken daughter to continually defraud the welfare system.The production of this movie, which was based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire, was excellent.
The film tells the story of Clairece 'Precious' Jones, a sixteen-year old young black girl from Harlem who is still in Junior High School and is pregnant with her second child.
When she is forced to attend an alternative school for underachievers, her outlook of life starts to change.Gabourey Sidibe, who plays 'Precious' gives the most outstanding breakthrough performance seen this year so far.
Because she is expelled from her high school for becoming pregnant with her father's second child, she is directed to a special school for dropouts trying to receive their GEDs. The wonderful Gabourey Sidibe, who plays Precious, makes her a realistic and inspiring character.
The cast as a whole is outstanding and the actors bring the characters to life.Marshall Mathers, or more familiarly known as Eminem, once said that, "I am not afraid to say what others and I are thinking." Although Eminem's songs are not about a teen struggling with abusive parents, (but are about Eminem's past growing up with a drug addicted mother and no father) what Eminem said defines the courageousness and leadership of director Lee Daniels and writer Geoffrey Fletcher.Precious is set in Harlem, and has a very realistic feel to it.
I mean, an abused child's journey through some harrowing times to an opening of some small hope is as old as Oliver Twist, but to see it in the hands of Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) and her really troubled mom (Mo'Nique) is to get whiplashed and then some.Director Lee Daniels pulls things together with a combination of cinema-verite style everyday moments (mostly of anger or isolation) and a few editing tricks that help accelerate the plot (speeded up scenes, using a couple of different techniques).
Every year there comes a moving, shocking and ultimately life-affirming drama that dominates the Oscar season and carves its way into cinematic history; this year, that film is Lee Daniels' latest feat "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire".
"Precious" is the kind of film that makes you want to embrace its main character, and look down on yourself and on how easy you've had it so far.Clarisse 'Precious' Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a sixteen-year old African-American girl, extremely overweight, illiterate and expecting her second child from her own father, who raped her.
Set in the poor neighborhood of Harlem in 1987, this film follows Clareece "Precious" Jones (played by Gabourey Sidibe), an overweight sixteen- year old girl who is pregnant with her second child after being raped by her father.
The story concerns Claireece 'Precious' Jones (played by relative new comer,Gabourey 'Gaby'Sidibe),a 17 year old girl,for whom life is just one never ending dumping ground (she is morbidly obese,she can barely read,and is constantly abused by her harsh,foul mouthed mother,played by pop singer,Mo'Nique,as well as by her step father,who sexually abuses her on a regular basis,and has already had one Down's Syndrome baby with & his pregnant with her second child).
Life is hard.Life is short.Life is painful.Life is rich.Life is...Precious.That's the tag line for "Precious", a powerful yet wonderful movie that teaches how you are special no matter how hard your life is.Whether you are homeless or dying, you are special.Precious is a 16-year old girl living in Harlem in 1987.She has lived a very hard life.She's overweight, she's pregnant again by her own father, people tease her, she got kicked out of school, and she lives with an abusive mother played by Mo'Nique.Her principal tells her of a new school that she thinks Precious should attend.Once Precious attends this school, she faces new challenges by her new teacher, her mother, and even her own baby."Precious" is not a film for everyone.If you are offended by swearing and child abuse, then this is not a film for you.But here the swearing and abuse is in the movie for a reason, which is to move us and help us understand how hard Precious's life is.It really is a powerful film.Powerful enough to keep you entertained and making you want to get to know Precious.The movie would not be how it is today without Mo'Nique.Her performance is not shallow in any way and she really should win an Oscar.But the performance that makes this movie really come to life is Gabourey Sidibe's performance as Precious.Her role is not only excellent, but also moving and intelligent.There's also Mariah Carey, who doesn't quite live up to Mo'Nique or Gabourey, but she delivers a good enough performance anyway."Precious" is a movie that just simply can't be missed.It's a movie that grabs hold of you and refuses to let you go.To put it into one simple word, "Precious" is...precious..
Mary, her mother in the movie played by Mo'Nique, should be up for an Oscar for a strong performance.Look out Halle Berry, Paula Patton is on the screen.
I think my reaction has largely to do with the fact that I found Precious's life and the everyday horrors it contains -- horrors that include a physically, verbally and emotionally abusive mother; rape by her father resulting in two pregnancies; and by the time the film is over a diagnosis of HIV in a time when AIDS wasn't as successfully treated as it is now -- so momentous that they remained largely abstract.
It's a gritty story about Precious, an obese, poor, illiterate, black teenager with an abusive mother and who's been impregnated by her father the second time.
The plot was superb and the acting had absolutely no faults, Mo'Nique who played the evil mother and Gabourney Sidibe as Precious should both receive so many awards for their performances as they were so convincing as their characters.
This film captures everything you need to justify a budget.It allowed you to understand all the main characters, it was so emotional - a good job was done by all !!!!In the end though there was not a feeling that everything was going to be perfect just like life something you do not see very often in movies.This movie leaves a positive taste.Hence my excellent rating.
They looked like an actual obese illiterate black 16-year old girl and her monstrously abusive mother in a stark documentary film.
The final scene is the cherry on top, as Mo'Nique brings it home in a big way - enough to earn her a best supporting actress Academy Award.Aside from the acting, Daniels' mark is left on many aspects of 'Precious.' From hazy flashbacks or daydreams to odd hallucinations of photographs talking to the title character, there are all kinds of unorthodox film techniques littered throughout.
Sidibe had a very difficult role and she pulled it off as Precious starts off as a character with no confidence, hiding from the world and just wants to cruise in life because that is all she knows and what people expect from her.
The movie Precious starring Mo'Nique as Mary Jones and Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe as Precious Jones tells the story of a girl and her struggle in life.
One of the themes of this movie is about a young black overweight girl Precious Jones (played by Gabourey Sidibe) who lives in Harlem with her extremely mean mother Mary (played by Mo'Nique).
The two main characters (Precious, played by Gabourey Sidibeare and Mo'Nique as her mother) are the real stars, with performances so believable you will want to cry for one, and seriously injure the other.
PRECIOUS –CATCH IT ( B+ ) One of the heart hitting movies I've ever seen its Black, Dark & more gritty then it looks like Gabourey Sidibe does it so convincing that it shocks you & let you go into her World How ugly and how bitter it is Mo'Nique got An Oscar for best Supporting Actress totally deserving...