Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
	Rating
	Brand	Lions Gate
	Type	DVD
	Audience Rating	R (Restricted)
	Release Date	2010-03-09
	Actor	Gabourey Sidibe; Mo'Nique;
	Director	Lee Daniels;
	Length	109 minutes
	List Price	$29.95
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Description
Precious Jones, an inner-city high school girl, is illiterate, overweight, and pregnant…again. Naïve and abused, Precious responds to a glimmer of hope when a door is opened by an substitute-school teacher. She is faced together with the choice to follow opportunity and test her own boundaries. Prepare for shock, revelation and celebration.
Not each movie can survive the kind of hype--multiple awards at Sundance and other festivals, rapturous reviews, the promise of Oscars to come--this greeted the open of Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, but this extraordinary piece of work is extra than up to the task. What's particularly notable concerning the film's success and acclaim is this in the beginning, at least, it presents one of the grimmest scenarios imaginable. The scene is Harlem, New York, in 1987. Teenager Clarisse Precious Jones (played by newcomer Gabourey Sibide in an absolutely fearless performance) is dirt poor, morbidly obese, semiliterate, and pregnant for the second time--together courtesy of her own father (the first baby was born together with Down syndrome). Her home life is several levels below Hell, as her bitter, vengeful welfare mother, Mary (Mo'Nique, in a role this has generated legitimate Oscar® buzz), abuses her together physically and otherwise (telling Precious she should have aborted her is only the worst of a relentless flood of insults and vitriol). Yet somehow, the young woman still has hopes and dreams (depicted in a series of delightful fantasy sequences). She enrolls in an substitute school, where a young teacher (Paula Patton) takes her under her wing and even into her home, and visits a social worker (an outstanding Mariah Carey; fellow pop star Lenny Kravitz is in addition efficient as a male nurse) who further helps get Precious out of the darkness. Incredibly, Precious's circumstances deteriorate even extra before showing the slightest mark of innovation, and a climactic confrontation together with her mother is one of the extra wrenching scenes in recent memory. But against all odds, director Lee Daniels, screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (working from Sapphire's novel), and particularly the wondrously affecting Sibide have managed to do Precious a film this will lift the viewer far higher up this one might ever have thought possible. --Sam Graham
Customer Reviews
Compelling and Disturbing!   2010-07-19
By Michael A. Newman (New Hyde Park, NY)
I now understand what the hype is about. This is a very thought provoking and brutally honest movie about a girl who was consistently raped by her father and both verbally and physically abused by her mother. The only thing that keeps her sane throughout these horrors is to imagine herself as a Cinderella at the Ball kind of character. Precious is failing school but one teacher recognizes in her, an aptitude for math. The guidence counseler recommends that Precious go to a special education school. There Precious is treated with respect and slowly starts to come out of her shell and start to have goals for herself. All the while, her mother is doing her utmost to prevent Precious from learning, constantly calling her stupid and telling her she can never be anything. Her mother is a couch potato who only cares about fooling the welfare agency to keep her check coming. It is only until very late in the film that the audience learns why she is so bad with Precious. This is the type of movie that shows you no matter what the human soul endures there can always be hope even in the darkest of times.
I want the two hours of my life back   2010-07-19
By sanfran
This movie was a total and utter waste of time and money. I have no clue why this movie has received so much attention or any awards for that matter. The acting was only so so (at best) and the plot was so over the top! If I could give it less than one start I would... maybe a half a start... maybe
English 098   2010-07-14
By Alicia,Han,Sai
The book "Precious" by Sapphire is about a 16 year old African American girl, who has a poor childhood and is abused by both parents. She has two children who are fathered none other than her dad. The mother of Precious was abusive towards her; she believed that her daughter had taken her man away, the man whom she loved. Despite the fact that Precious got kicked out of school, she got the opportunity to enter in a special school that helped her get the education needed. Ms. Rain was a teacher whom actually paid attention to Precious due to the potential she saw in her. She always supported and encouraged Precious to change every aspect of her life towards the best. As Precious goes on with her life through the tough times, she has learned to love her fellow classmates and become a dedicated mother. In my opinion, this book was well descriptive. It seemed as though the reader was there and knew how she felt. Another reason why this is a great book is due to the writing process that was chosen. Sapphire expresses well Precious thoughts and emotions in her poems. You can actually feel the hatred and pain that she carried within. Sapphire whom is the author, gives the readers a sense of how Precious thought of each person. Precious is an admirable girl even though people have perceived her as mean, selfish, and judgmental. I mention this because she tries to be a better person, whether it is getting an education or being a mother to her children.
real life   2010-07-08
By G. L. Williams (Houston, Texas)
This movie was shocking, deals with real life issues of the real world. If you looking for a fairy tale, this is not the movie for you. The acting was awesome.
For me, it didn't live up to the hype   2010-07-07
By Irfan A. Alvi (Towson, MD USA)
This movie has obviously garnered a lot of praise, but I have to be honest and say that, subjectively, it didn't do much for me. One could argue that the movie does a service by showing us how truly miserable the circumstances of some people are, so that we understand and maybe even try to help. But I'm already well aware that there are countless people in similar or worse circumstances, both within and beyond the US. And I already care and try to help where I can. In other words, the movie didn't tell me anything new and didn't compel me to do anything different. Moreover, I didn't find that the movie portrayed these bad circumstances with any distinctive subtlety or nuances. The experience of watching this movie was like the experience of having a run-of-the-mill nightmare. A different argument would be that the character of Precious shows us that people can be resilient, can break out of the vicious cycles in which they appear to be trapped, and can thereby show us the power of hope. But does the movie really show that? It seems to me that, at the end of the movie, Precious was on her way to improving her circumstances, but the improvement was about going from absolutely horrible to merely lousy circumstances, not from bad to good. I personally don't find that all that uplifting. As far as the acting, it was pretty good across the board. As expected, the lead actors were strong, and the surprise for me was Mariah Carey's entirely believable portrayal of a social worker. Who knew that she can act? Considering all of the above points, I can only give this movie three stars, and I can only recommend it to people who's lives have been too short or sheltered to realize how bad some people have it out there.