In Harlem, overweight, illiterate teen Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) – pregnant with her second child by insidious circumstances and forever stalked by her hate-filled mother (Mo’nique) – is invited to enrol in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, this is a bleak telling of a girl forever put down, facing hardship after hardship with very little in the way of reprieve. It’s a story that needs telling; this voiceless person needs a voice, and like many tragic stories the simple act of telling in a small way allows some semblance of justice.
Like the utterly magnificent Last Ride, Precious explores the damaging and perpetuating effects of abusive parents. But where the former had an assured sense of its purpose, tone and style, with Precious director Lee Daniels seems caught in the middle. Fantasy scenes – where Precious imagines herself as a famous model – should have been cut or fleshed out. In similarly bleak offerings Dancer in the Dark and Pan’s Labyrinth fantasy was woven expertly into the fabric of the story, here they feel dropped in to break tension. The film also has a sporadic voiceover by Precious; it’s exclusion would have made the film more powerful.
This said, the central performances are very strong, culminating in a powerful scene between newcomer Sidibe and Golden Globe winner Mo’nique in a social worker’s office. Co-produced by Oprah Winfrey, starring a surprisingly unglamorous Mariah Carey, and a low-key Lenny Kravitz, you can tell this story and its subject means a lot to a lot of people, and it’s adaptation to the screen should be admired. Combined with the central performers makes Precious worth watching despite it narrative flaws. Not a first date flick, though.
