The Chocolate Review: "Precious"

Based of the novel Push by Sapphire, Precious tells the story of a young girl’s journey to find the true meaning of love. Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a young girl who during her 16 years of life has seen a lifetime of pain. She’s illiterate, over weight and pregnant with the second child by her father. She’s lived a loveless, abused life since childhood yet something within her still burns for a better existence. She dreams to be somebody one day. An aspiration fueled by her unwavering hope.

Precious has suffered mental and sexual abuse from both her incestuous father and physically abusive, unstable mother Mary (Mo’Nique) for as long as she can remember. After enrolling in a GED program, Precious sets out to get away from her painful past and find a better life for both herself and her children. Despite her many obstacles Precious does whatever it takes to avoid welfare and raise her family in an environment of safety and love that only she can provide.

In contrast to Mary, Precious’ teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) is a loving, patient woman who demonstrates compassion and real concern. She eventually motivates Precious to learn how to read, an accomplishment that brings her that much closer to her goals. In this story, we lived through the eyes of Precious and reaped the benefits of her joy through experiencing her pain. This honestly was one of the most beautiful and touching films we’ve seen in years.

This story, if it doesn’t do anything else, will inspire you to break free of anything keeping you stuck in your past. The bad keeps on stacking up against Precious and she still continued to go after what she wanted. That kind of inner will is unique and it will pull at every possible emotion within you.

Kudos to the ensemble cast that left us breathless. Just imagine the courage Mariah Carey had to muster up to go all natural for her portrayal of social worker Weiss. She topped it off by giving a wonderful performance. One that almost makes you want to forgive her for Glitter. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe deserves every nomination she received. To bring a character like Precious to life with that level of raw emotion must have been difficult at best. Mo’Nique floored us with her ability to tap into the worst parts of her and connect with her character. There were moments so real that Mo’Nique completely disappeared and all that you saw before you was this broken, pathetic woman named Mary. There was a level of excellence that Daniels demanded in this film and every single one of these ladies surpassed it.

Too often stories about African Americans are told in a very one dimensional fashion. Precious is not guilty of that in any manner. Not only does this film go into the inner thoughts and secret fantasy life of this little girl but they paint the entire spectrum of her individuality. This is one teenager’s story. One like no other. There is no stereotypical and vague set of events that drag Precious along a clichéd path. Her story felt real, organic and authentic. A rarely seen but much appreciated experience.

We laughed. We cried. We were breathless with suspense and chocked silent with resentment. Any film that can taps into that many human emotions is worth seeing over and over and over again.

Precious makes you want to go out and face the world with renewed confidence. We finished watching the movie feeling like we could take on the world. How silly our problems look when compared to the grand scale of life. This film forces you to appreciate the good people and fortune granted to you. In life there is no room for self pity. Especially the kind that prevents you from being all that you could if you’d just realize how precious you truly are. Anything is possible. Dreams can come true and nightmares can fade. But love is the only thing that is everlasting. Lee Daniels’ Precious shows us exactly that.

The Chocolate Review gives Precious 5 out of 5 stars for the following reasons:

• Mo’Nique and Gabourey’s amazing performances
• Outstanding acting by the ensemble cast
• Great symbolism and cinematography
• Accurately portrayed storytelling of the soul of a young African American girl