In the lower depths of Harlem, NY., in 1987, one teenager is living a life she wishes she never had to endure.
“Precious,” based on the novel “Push,” by Sapphire, is a story of a morbidly obese 16-year-old African-American girl named Clareece Precious Jones played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe.
The film, which focuses on issues of hope, teen pregnancy, inner city blues, rape, abuse and redemption, has attracted friends in high places: Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry are the executive producers.
“I acknowledge, in spirit, in consciousness, in person, if possible, the Preciouses of the world. They will no longer be invisible to me, because what this film does is raises the volume on all of their voices around the world,” Winfrey said.
Pop superstar Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz also appear in the film as a social worker and a male nurse trying to help Precious learn that there’s always a rainbow after the storm.
Mo’Nique also stars in the movie. She and Sidibe’s give standout performances.
In her first dramatic role, the comedian Mo’Nique acts with a fire that could burn a hole straight through the screen.
Her role as a mother who treats her daughter like a slave while exploiting her as a welfare ticket is disturbing and difficult to watch at times.
Sidibe, a newcomer on the scene, does such a professional job in this film.
The movie “Precious” is a story of a poor, depressed girl who is still in junior high school because of her mother Mary’s, played by Mo’Nique, physical and mentally abusive ways.
Abuse that also comes from her drug-addicted father, who is the father of her two children as well.
The only thing that helps Precious through the abuse are dreams of becoming a star, “skinny with long hair” and adored by the world.
But outside those fantasies, Precious cannot imagine such a life. She rarely talks and never smiles. She excludes herself from the world.
Then the unthinkable happens, Precious is kicked out of school because of her second pregnancy, unable to read or write.
She does, however, discover an alternative path in life after attending a new school that her junior high school counselor helps her get into.
There, with a little help from a sympathetic teacher, Blue Rain, played by Paula Patton, and a kind nurse, played by Kravitz, the young girl receives something that most girls never get, a chance to start over.
With that chance, Precious can’t help but wonder why people who barely know her are nicer to her than her own mother and father.
Her feelings are understandable considering she’s been sexually abused since the age of three by her father while her mother did nothing to stop it, causing her mother to be abusive towards her in return.
Precious is a must-see film. It’s happy, it’s sad, it has funny parts and at the end, it teaches life-long lessons that all young girls and adults around the world can learn from.
