Review of Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (2009) by Mandela W — 10 Sep 2016

Many years ago I kept hearing about this new black actress on the scene who killed it in a film called precious. Everywhere I went especially black areas I kept hearing about gabrorey sidbe's incredible performance and monique's for that matter. I finally got around years later to watching Precious based on the novel push by sapphire and I kid you not when I saw I was having to pick my jaw off the floor. Amazing picture that couldn't have been more deserve of the Oscar nod it got in 2010.

Clareece "Precious" Jones is a young obese girl living in Harlem, NY with just her mother Mary. The Jones household is an abusive one both physically and psychologically. on top of that she has a child with down syndrome. After getting expelled from her high school precious goes to an alternative one and meets people who help her see a light in at the end of the dark tunnel she is still walking through. the movie is one of triumph pain and of course coming of age.

This was maad raw! nothing was held back with this portrayal of an abusive household and life for that matter. The imagery during certain scenes paint a picture of what precious has going on her head each day. the lighting was tremendous it made everything so dim litted and darker. makes it obvious it was done on low budget but it was still pretty cool to see. I really liked the authentic narrative in this from precious. the scene where everything unraveled left me speechless. It has to have been one of the best acted out scenes of 2009. The script overall was tremendous.

Gabroure sidbe delivers a powerful performance. She plays one of the most unusual roles for woman. an obese young girl lost in the world. you immediately are rooting for her because she has more than the average girl with problems to deal with and you want her to succeed. you are taken on an emotional journey with her and you witness the pain she is in..I was stunned at how much incredibly horrible things were coming out of Mary's mouth. I mean I've seen more evil characters but still like I ended hating Mary so much. For Monique to get that kind of reaction out of me shows how much incredible hidden talent she has when she is working with proper direction from an accomplished director. lee daniels gives us really nice escapism moments with precious that takes out of the cruel reality that she lives in. The juxtaposition and compacted shots he uses are all excellent. Daniels unflinching look into a harsh life in inner city harlem ranks him among the best in black directors, spike Lee's, John Singleton's, the Melvin Van Peeples, the steve mcqueens and so forth.

Precious is an amazing stunning picture that one must definitely see.