# "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" -- really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427 "2010-02-02T19:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/61 "2010-02-03T23:07:05Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Oh shit this just made me remember another detail: during the years they all live in this little suburban country-kitchen breakfast-nook rambler, trading off doing the dishes and mowing the lawn, whenever Cooba has to go out on a job, we see–get this, I am not making this up–we see him dressed in a gray suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, lined up along the railway platform with all the other gray suits, waiting for their commuter train into the city. Now THAT’S biting social commentary. And subtle! You know, if it wasn’t for the fact that, of course, this movie simply cannot possibly exist (for one thing, Helen Mirren would never, ever, ever, ever do it) then I’d suggest you pitch it and make it yourself as a farcical comedy. It’d be the next “Airplane!” But since you continue to pursue this silly jest, I, sir, will take you up on your dare. I shall repair to my local video store and look for a movie called “Shadowboxing” with Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. And if such a movie exists, which I do not for a minute believe, I shall rent it, bring it home, and watch every bit of it from the first frame to the last, and report to this thread no later than Saturday on my findings. Which of course I will not have to do, since it’s nothing more than a flight of your fancy. It has to be. It has to be. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/62 "2010-02-03T23:40:59Z")
_ **Shadowboxer** _ No excuse not to find it now. Nice try though. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/63 "2010-02-03T23:47:12Z")
[http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Shadowboxer/70053821?strackid=595362a3cb7423bc\_0\_srl&strkid=1393644305\_0\_0&trkid=438381](http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Shadowboxer/70053821?strackid=595362a3cb7423bc_0_srl&strkid=1393644305_0_0&trkid=438381) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/64 "2010-02-03T23:52:09Z")
**RJ** , I have an idea. Let’s all watch it together, with a thread of running commentary. It’s available on Netflix streaming (linked above), so anyone with a Netflix account can watch it online. If we set a time say on saturday, then people who need to get a disc have a couple days to do so. Any takers? Cuz I just went and played the beginning again, and I just wanted to guffaw, and go “Ohmygod did I just see . . . ?” Might be fun to have an MST3K-style roundtable. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/65 "2010-02-03T23:58:07Z")
**Mirren:** _Been thinkin about God._ **Cooba:** _That’s because you’re dying Rose._ ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/66 "2010-02-04T00:21:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It seems to me that the producers were forced into this by the release of the earlier “Push.” They were forced to do something to rename the film and still keep the book’s audience. So here roughly would be the thinking. > > **Precious** – Title is OK, but fans of the book might not realize they’re connected. > > **Precious** (based on “Push”). Works as an aside, but lots of people only see the title. We need to make this clear. > > **Precious: Based on Push**. Nonsensical. Even fans of “Push” might not understand what that means. > > **Precious: Based on the Novel Push** Better, only it sounds like it’s based upon a new type of pushing. Maybe people won’t understand what the novel is. > > **Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire**. Now everyone knows what novel we mean. > > : Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire: I would have just said to hell with the confusion. Name it Push, then maybe we’ll accidently get people hoping to get the other movie. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/67 "2010-02-04T00:32:57Z")
That may have been the least believable plot synopsis since [Lady in the Water](http://www.themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/ladyinwater.html). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/68 "2010-02-04T01:25:24Z")
- The one thing I’ll say about Shadowboxer is that it’s never boring. Of course, I could also say that about stepping on crushed glass. \* –Richard Roeper ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/69 "2010-02-04T01:33:57Z")
Other critics (from rottentomatoes): [ul] [li]Should you go? Not in public. But with a group of like-minded friends and the DVD, there might be circumstances under which you’d find it hilarious.[/li] [li]I’d sooner sit through 32 hours of Congressional committee testimony about imported yarn than watch Shadowboxer again.[/li] [li]One of the campiest, most lushly ludicrous movies to come out in a while. [/li] [li]A ridiculous movie that starts off completely cracked and just gets crazier and crazier. [/li] [li]Not only will you want to shower after seeing this repellent movie – the Rose-Mikey sex scenes are especially icky – you’ll feel sorry for the cast. [/li] [li]If he earns no other accolades for his directorial debut – a distinct likelihood – Lee Daniels deserves some kind of award just for assembling the most bizarrely random cast of this young century. [/li] [li]Who says critics are useless? Now you don’t have to see the movie, unless, of course, you derive some satisfaction/pleasure from graphic violence, unforgivably cliched scripts and/or repeated sightings of Gooding’s bare bottom. [/li] [li]A rubbernecker’s movie…There’s a new Zalman King in town, and his name is Lee Daniels. [/li] [li]It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it becomes clear that this lurid, steroidal neo-noir is certifiably insane (or at least a lot funnier than it means to be), but it’s pretty early on. [/li] [li]A strident and shocking jumble. [/li] [li]Shadowboxer, a gaudy thriller saturated in sex and violence, is an extravagance that leaves you with your mouth hanging open – partly in admiration of its audacity and partly in disbelief at its preposterousness. [/li] [li]After 90-odd minutes of bludgeoning us into open-jawed bafflement, Shadowboxer is best aborted, and flushed away as one of 2006’s more unpleasant memories.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/70 "2010-02-04T02:11:27Z")
I heard an interview with Lee Daniels on NPR a month or two ago (maybe Fresh Air) and he sounded whacked out of his mind. Asked how he got great performances out of his actors, he said he shared all his deepest and darkest secrets with them. Terry Gross: But what does that have to do with their performance? Lee Daniels: Because, it just is. You know? Terry: I don’t understand. It was the hardest I’ve ever seen them on an interviewee. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/71 "2010-02-04T02:26:37Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > **RJ** , I have an idea. > > Let’s all watch it together, with a thread of running commentary. > > It’s available on Netflix streaming (linked above), so anyone with a Netflix account can watch it online. I’m in Canada, so I don’t believe that’s an option, even if the movie existed. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/72 "2010-02-04T02:57:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m in Canada, so I don’t believe that’s an option, even if the movie existed. I thought you were already getting the disc? we can just synchronize. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/73 "2010-02-04T03:48:02Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I thought you were already getting the disc? we can just synchronize. Too much trouble. What if I have to pee? I will watch this movie - if it exists, ha ha ha. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/74 "2010-02-04T04:11:07Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Break out the tinfoil, **RJ** , cuz your universe is goin _down_. If I can sit through that eternal, infinite hell, a punishment I wouldn’t wish on Hitler or Oprah, then you can. Just to prove you can. In fact, I dare you. If you aren’t man enough to sit through \*Shadowboxer \*without fastforwarding or cutting yourself, then you’re just a weenie little girlie boy. Umm I sat thru Lord of the RIngs… okay i know thats gonna get me a beat down in here lol ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/75 "2010-02-05T00:21:32Z")
The problem (well, one of many) with the title is that there are 3 randomly interchangeable words in it. It would have made almost as much sense, or be just as hard to remember, if it was “Sapphire: Based on the novel Precious by Push”, or “Push: Based on the novel Sapphire by Precious.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/76 "2010-02-05T03:47:00Z")
I am pleased to report that Blockbuster had a movie called “Shadowboxer” with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren. I’m sure it won’t be as described by lissener, but I’m gonna watch it tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/77 "2010-02-05T04:17:00Z")
And **RickJay** was never seen again. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/78 "2010-02-05T05:24:04Z")
I’m actively trying to think of someone I dislike enough to make them watch this alleged “Shadowboxer” movie with me. Does anyone know whether the effects of alcohol consumption will make it hilariouser, or a hellish experience unlike any I have endured before? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/79 "2010-02-05T05:30:56Z")
Well, you’ll start by pinching yourself on the arm to see if it’s real, and you’ll end up punching yourself in the head to make it stop. So yeah, anything that dulls the pain is a good idea. I recommend general anesthesia. And a morphine drip. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/80 "2010-02-05T05:34:26Z")
[Proof](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsbEEt2BIM) I’m not making this up. Unless I’m making THIS up. Whoah. I just freaked my OWN shit out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427.md?page=5)