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The two are reported to have fallen in love with the film and the book which the film is based on, coming on board as one of the film’s 12 producers.
Their presence was sure to attract a lot of hype which would have drawn attention from the movie itself were it not for the strong storyline and powerful performances of all those involved.
Precious can be summed up in one description: A rare combination of pure entertainment and hard-hitting social commentary, which is sure to have you in tears at one moment, in a bout of laughter next and leave you at a loss for words at the end.
Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, Precious tells the story of Claireece Precious Jones, an illiterate, obese teenage mother living in Harlem, United States, during the mid-’80s.
She has two children, Abdul and Mango, who she bore after being raped by her mother’s boyfriend, who also happens to be her father too.
She is the victim of abuse: sexual, physical and psychological, all from her parents and, oh! did I mention she is also HIV-positive?
Her character description alone is enough to make one sappy drama which basically narrates the ills that American teens go through in life, especially in the poverty-stricken parts of America, tempting one not to give a second glance to the movie, but, alas, Precious is anything but that sapping tear jerker.
Instead, it is a film about struggle, love, hope, faith, endurance and the power of the mind, all the things that the American teen and those around the world like them go through life without.
Its mixture of pure humour and drama makes this movie watchable and a true gem.
At first glance there is very little precious about Precious (pun intended) but as we go midway through the film, we are taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotion in which we move from empathy to admiration as this teenager navigates through life with her imagination, which she uses to escape, her only weapon.
The film can be divided in two inseparable acts, with the first narrating the dire strain that Precious finds herself narrating the entire ordeal, namely the abuse both sexual and psychological.
In the second act she enrols into an alternative schooling programme called “Each One, Teach One”, where she comes across a support structure in the form of her new teacher Blu Rain and her fellow students.
The basic narrative is very simple but loaded and is only the icing on the cake as the film’s greatest merits are the powerful dialogue and strong performances.
Among the star-studded cast are the likes of Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Paula Patton and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe.
The above took major downsizes to their wardrobe in their attempts to fully capture their character roles with Mo’Nique shelving her comic self as Mary Lee Johston, the naive, lazy and abusive mother to Precious.
Mary’s astonishing ignorance and stupidity may have given her a degree of sympathy if she wasn’t so viciously selfish and defiantly proud of her lack of education.
Her acts of violence are gruesome, especially a scene in which she throws a television set at her daughter and three-day-old grandchild.
Kravitz and Patton come off as the calming agents to Precious’ life and the movie as a whole, balancing the mayhem which characterises both entities with a sense of hope, love and encouragement.
They both nail their roles, giving it a warm feeling to instant perfection as Precious’ nursing aid, John McFadden, and teacher Rain respectively.
Newcomer Sibide is by far the best performer as she is comes off as a revelation to the movie, giving the character a sullen and defensive exterior that is as frightening as it is heartbreaking.
She is the proud owner of what I view as the best quote of the movie in which she says “My name is Claireece Precious Jones and I want to be on the cover of a magazine . . .”
The statement, as simple as it sounds, is loaded with a sense of hope of which I believe the movie is about.
Her constant daydreams of a better life and the pursuit of it are what make this movie special and different from those of the same genre before it.
This is the kind of movie that makes you want to grab a book. No wonder Mo’Nique won an Oscar for her portrayal of Johnston.-The Sunday Mail
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter