Precious
November 20, 2009
Plot
In Harlem, an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
Release Year: 2009
Rating: 7.4/10 (40,448 voted)
Critic's Score: 79/100
Director:
Lee Daniels
Stars: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton
Storyline
Claireece Precious Jones endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother, raped by her father, she grows up poor, angry, illiterate, fat, unloved and generally unnoticed. So what better way to learn about her than through her own, halting dialect.
Writers: Geoffrey Fletcher, Sapphire
Cast:
Gabourey Sidibe
–
Precious
Mo'Nique
–
Mary
Paula Patton
–
Ms. Rain
Mariah Carey
–
Ms. Weiss
Sherri Shepherd
–
Cornrows
Lenny Kravitz
–
Nurse John
Stephanie Andujar
–
Rita
Chyna Layne
–
Rhonda
Amina Robinson
–
Jermaine
Xosha Roquemore
–
Joann
Angelic Zambrana
–
Consuelo
Aunt Dot
–
Toosie
Nealla Gordon
–
Mrs. Lichtenstein
Grace Hightower
–
Socialworker
Barret Helms
–
Tom Cruise
(as Barret Isaiah Mindell)
Taglines:
Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is….Precious.
Details
Official Website:
ARP Sélection [France] |
Lionsgate [United States] |
Release Date: 20 November 2009
Box Office Details
Budget: $10,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $1,872,458
(USA)
(8 November 2009)
(18 Screens)
Gross: $47,395,661
(USA)
(7 March 2010)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Canada:
(Toronto International Film Festival)
Did You Know?
Trivia:
This film was scheduled for release on October 19 and 20 in 2009 Tokyo International Film Festival, but canceled.
Goofs:
Continuity:
Precious and her principal are talking back and forth through the apartment intercom system, but Precious is still able to hear the first several words of the principal's response even though she hasn't pressed the 'listen' button yet.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Clareece 'Precious' Jones:
[voiceover]
My name is Clareece "Precious" Jones. I wish I had a light-skinned boyfriend with real nice hair. And I wanna be on the cover of a magazine. But first I wanna be in one of them BET videos. Momma said I can't dance. Plus, she said who wants to see my big ass dancing, anyhow?
User Review
Once every so often…
Rating: 9/10
Once every so often a film comes along that will change your perception
of things. In one way or another it will give you elements to better
yourself. "Precious" is such a film. Lee Daniels, the director, takes
things to extremes, so much so that this could easily be an opera. When
you think that things couldn't be worse, you discover that they have
been worse already for a long time. Precious is played by a sort of
miracle. Her name is Gubarey Sidibe and I don't even know how to
pronounce it but I will certainly take her in my mind from now on,
always. When she stands listening to the rantings of her mother, I
surprised myself by feeling tears running down my face. The mother, a
standout, once in a lifetime performance by Mo'Nique, is also a
character we've never seen before. Brutal, unsentimental and truthful
to the core. I saw the film over three weeks ago and I can't shake it
out of my system, if that in itself is not a sign of greatness I don't
know what is.