Review: Precious - Based on The Novel Push by Sapphire

Although it is backed by Oprah Winfrey and stars a stand-up comedian and two well known musicians in supporting roles, Precious is definitely one of the most hard hitting films of the last ten years. Precious, the lead character, is certainly someone we can root for. Pregnant with her second child, again a product of rape courtesy of her father, and regularly the victim of physical abuse from her mother she is probably on the lowest rung of the social scale. Then hope appears in the form of a special school and an inspirational teacher called Blu Rain (one of the film's only mis-steps but then it is based on a book) plus a gang of new wise-cracking pals. But Precious is no fairytale and there are hardly any happy endings despite hope coming in the form of a new life and education, Precious the film shows us that we can't always be happy.

Gabourey Sidibe is Precious and definitely deserves the awards she's been up for this season. In lesser hands we may not have cared for the girl in the way we do here. Mo'Nique is an Oscar certaintiy, from being a regular stand-up and a sitcom star as the abusive mother she is absolutely horrific. Although at the same time her comedy comes through in a scene where a social worker visits Precious' household and her mother has to changer her act in order to keep recieving her benefits. Paula Patton is able to keep Miss Rain from lapsing into cliche while Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz impress as a social worker and male nurse respectively.

The film isn't always a nightmarish ride and director Lee Daniels gives us some respite as Precious lapses into a fantasy world where she is a popstar and dates cute boys. There is also some humour from Precious' worldly and uppity classmates. The only critcism here is that this isn't a film for anyone in particular. While it's visually impressive and incredibly powerful I'm not sure where the audience for it is even so I would recommend Precious to anyone who is a fan of tough movies and can stand the weight of some of the content.