Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-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, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret; She can't read.
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Very Cool!!!
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Its a very good drama and pretty hard to hold your tears. Great acting and a nice story.Its about a 16 year old girl named Precious living a pretty tough life in Harlem.
I find it ironic with a film directed and produced by Lee Daniels, with Oprah Winfrey on board as executive producer, that some reviewers on this board would consider the film racist. What it says to me is that any treatment of an historical event or a real life situation would be considered racist if the person watching is uncomfortable with it. That's always bugged me, because how are creative artists supposed to get their message across if they can't show the way people are and the ways they strive to better themselves? As for the picture, I was in OMG! mode ten minutes in when Mother Mary (Mo'Nique) began her verbal assault against her daughter Precious (Gabourey Sidibe). That some people actually live in this kind of environment is more than an eye opener for those of us better advantaged. It was incredible that Precious maintained a sense of decency and humility by attempting to make life better for herself considering the enormous odds working against her.From a personal point of view, I don't know how teachers like Ms. Blu Rain (Paula Patton) are able to do what they do, showing the kind of patience and understanding needed to draw abused students out of their shell to foster learning. I don't think it's something I could do, and I have the utmost compassion and regard for those kinds of teachers and social workers who can go to work every day with the prospect of failure never far away. It has to make the positive results achieved somewhat triumphant.I'm glad I watched this picture but I thought there would be more of a resolution to the fate of Precious at the end of the story. Though there was some closure for her in disowning her abusive mother, one can't help but realize that there was no happy ending here for a single mother with two young children and no immediate prospects for improvement except for keeping a positive attitude and desire to succeed. It takes a special kind of person to maintain that drive without succumbing to dire circumstances surrounding them. I would have preferred more of a silver lining ending to the story, but in reality, life doesn't always work like that.
Some people are lucky and grow up in healthy, prosperous families with good jobs, good education, and a life filled with love. Then there are some who are not so lucky, living near of the bottom of the barrel with poor income and trudging through harrowing lifestyles with parents who have seemingly nothing but darkness in their heart. That is the basis of this heartbreaking, yet unusually uplifting drama directed by Lee Daniels. Following the story of an underage with a home style that can only be described as unpleasant and with an unfair future in sight, this film strikes at your heart with gruelingly powerful storytelling with strong emotional resonance. And Daniels accomplishes the story without diving into the pratfalls of emotionally contrived clichés. Part of this is thanks to the rewarding performances by Gabourey Sidibe, who is making her feature film debut, and Mo'Nique who is firing with a performance that simply cannot be ignored. 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. She is attending school while living a poor home life with her extremely poor excuse of a mother Mary (played by Mon'Nique) who beats her, calls her horrible names, and yells at her to quit school because she is too "dumb". If that's not bad enough, she doesn't even have a job, she just collects welfare checks. When she is transferred to an alternative school and enrolls in an English class taught by Mrs. Rain (played by Paula Patton), she is opened to a glimmer of hope for her future. That is if she manage to balance being a mother and excelling in school, which she manages to ask advice for by her social worker Ms. Weiss (played by Mariah Carey). Lee Daniels knows the heart of its source material, and he breathes life into triumphant results. Based on the acclaimed novel 'Push' by Sapphire, this somber, yet deeply moving drama offers a realistic and heart-stirring account of an underprivileged girl trapped in the shackles of an unfortunate home life in the uprooted by her mother who does nothing but sits in front of the television, smokes, and treats her daughter like garbage for reasons that are revealed late in the story. Her life captured partially through a series of both happy dream sequences of her being a Hollywood star and harrowing flashbacks of her and her father. Both of which paint a picture of her a psychological state. The relationship between her and her mother functions as part of the emotional crux of the story, followed by her life-changing journey of mothering a second child while facing the ramifications of her past. It is a deeply powerful story that almost never holds back on pulling at your heart strings. Yes, there are some moments of levity, but they come few and far in between. And the performances placed some icing on the cake. Gabourey Sidibe is incredible as the eponymous character, channeling her depression and confusion in a role that doesn't understand her. It is Mo'Nique however, that supplies the acting gold here. This actress scarfs down her role with overwhelming ferocity without feeling overly manipulative or exploitative with anger. Each scene she is present is difficult to watch, particularly in during the final scene with Sidibe and Mariah Carey, who also plays the scene quite well. Paula Patton is also very charming in her role, full of humanity and heartfulness. And let's not the forget singer Lenny Kravitz in the role of a nurse who the title character fantasizes about in a few scenes. At the end, viewers are blessed with a message that in the midst of living an unholy lifestyle, there is always a silver lining and light at the end of the tunnel whether you see it or not. Precious is a heartbreaking, yet triumphant picture soaring with powerful emotional swing uprooted by uncompromising performances by an inspiring cast. It is a movie that will grab your heart and never let go, even after it reaches the end credits. Do not feel remotely embarrassed if you find yourself reaching for the tissues. There is a true heart and soul to witnessed here.
Dude, this is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I laughed my wiener off in the theater, when she got that ashtray in the head and fell over like a sack of potatoes. And that retarded inbreed child named MONGO - who comes up with that stuff XD. And the way she walks around looking like a giant bloated puffer fish got me every time. Hahahaha I almost pee myself just thinking about it. I give the sex scene in the beginning a nine out of eleven, as it got me a little hard but not quite enough to jerk off to. Oh yeah, and then there was the moment when she ate those chicken wings. I almost puked in mouth, it was so discussing, and then I almost choked in my own puke cause I was laughing so hard. And the way the the black mother was talking about welfare all the time was pretty realistic. Anyways I can't quite fill the ten line so I gonna list out the best performances in the movie: The mother, a jerk who was quite believable, also she has quite an arm the way she tosses stuff after that fat kid. The black thugs, the ones who pushed the fat is over the street. They looked like someone you didn't want to mess with. That white kid in the dream, probably actor of the year as he was able to kiss that fat kid, without questioning his entire acting career and not blow his brains out afterwards.