At the Toronto Film Festival, Oprah Winfrey was at the head of a parade of A-listers on the red carpet. As soon as her heels clicked onto the carpet the audience’s faces lit up and the cameras snapped, making the Canadian reception look and sound more like a lightening storm than an awards celebration. But as always, the ever-graceful Oprah took it all in stride, holding her hand to her heart in thanks as she smiled and waved at the crowd. But she wasn’t there to promote her show or magazine.
Gabourey Sidibe plays Clareece "Precious" Jones in the movie, "Precious"
With the goal of raising anticipation for her film with Tyler Perry, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” Oprah, to her own surprise, got more than she’d anticipated. While at the festival, the movie received the People’s Choice Award, the same award that was given to last year’s Oscar magnet, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Though, to its followers, there’s no surprise at how well the movie is doing. Since it left the Sundance Film Festival in awe it’s received nothing but the best of reviews from movie critics nationwide. Even Variety magazine called the film “a diamond – clear, bright, but oh so hard.”
Clareece “Precious” Jones, played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, is an illiterate pregnant teen for the second time by her father while living in Harlem with her destructive mother (Mo’Nique). There are stunning performances throughout the movie by actors Paula Patton as Precious’, an inspirational teacher and Lenny Kravitz as John, a nurse. Mariah Carey even graces the screen as an ungraceful social worker.
However, many are still wondering if Oprah, with such a controversial film, can reach her goal of making “Precious” an Oscar-winner. Our guess is that with the turnout at the movies, it is already pulling from the worldwide audience shouldn’t be too hard.
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