Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 27, Jan 2010 12:36
By Matthew Champion.
Directed by Lee Daniels, out January 29th in cinemas, starring Gabby Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, running time 110 minutes.
What's it all about
An adaptation, as the title suggests, of poet Sapphire's acclaimed 1996 novel Push from Lee Daniels starring newcomer Gabby Sidibe as the eponymous Precious - an obese 16-year-old with learning difficulties recently expelled from school after becoming pregnant for the second time from her father while suffering from long-term mental, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her mother (Mo'Nique) at their dilapidated Harlem tenement. Does the chance of a new education at an alternative school offer Precious the chance to break free from her nightmarish existence?
As an example...
"Sometimes I wish I was dead. I'll be OK, I guess, 'cause I'm lookin' up. Lookin' for something to fall... a desk, a couch, a TV... my Mom, maybe." - Precious
"Nobody loves me!" - Precious
"People do love you, Precious." - Ms Rain
"Don't lie to me! Love ain't done nothing for me! Love beat me down! Love rape me, made me feel worthless!" - Precious
"But that's not love. Your baby loves you. I love you." - Ms Rain
What the others say
"As Precious, Sidibe is superb, allowing us to see the inner warmth and beauty of a young woman who, to her world's cruel eyes, might seem monstrous. As Precious' hideous mother, Mo'Nique is cruelty incarnate. It's an astonishingly powerful performance." - Hollywood Reporter
"Second-time helmer Daniels demonstrates a remarkable, balletic ability to juggle emotional extremes. Claireece has her fantasies, and their visualisations - of the girl as satin-clad pop star, movie star or supermodel - work as relief valves. They're never funny, but they do humanise a character who has been reduced, by those who are supposed to love her, to a piece of meat, and who presents herself to the world as a very different, far less attractive creature than the Claireece we hear in voiceover." - Variety
So is it any good?
For those who have not read Push, the earlier synopsis might not seem like the ideal material to turn into an inspiring, life-affirming film.
On the other hand, the intensely disturbing subject matter, which frequently makes for unbearably distressing viewing, could be viewed as Oscar bait.
Thankfully, Precious manages to stay on the narrow sidewalk between both pitfalls to deliver a heartbreaking study on the millions of people across the world who have no voice, and therefore no future.
Daniel's film, which is dedicated for "precious girls everywhere", features star turns from Sidibe and Mo'Nique as Precious' monstrous, irredeemable mother, and coaxes beguiling cameos from a seriously underdone Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz.
Against the backdrop of the litany of crimes committed against her by the people who should love her the most, Precious the girl envisages an impossible escape from her hellish existence by becoming the next BET video star or, in one of the more distressing scenes, a lithe white girl combing her straight blonde hair.
But Precious finds that not even a mother who subjects her to a constant barrage of shocking abuse and flagrant disregard for any of her basic rights as a human, let alone expectations as a daughter, and a father who sexually abused her as a baby and fathered two children with her, are a roadblock to happiness.
That she finds salvation through her inspirational teacher Ms Rain (Paula Patton) and her class of other seemingly-lost souls is the 'push' action that lends itself to the name of Sapphire's novel.
Not just for precious girls but also not quite deserving of the hype that has surrounded it since its Sundance debut last year, Precious is nevertheless confirmation of Daniels' abilities as a director and the birth of a new and unique talent in Sidibe, both of whom will are certain to garner Oscar recognition for their work.
8/10