MOVIE: PRECIOUS

Based on the 1996 novel Push by Harlem poet Sapphire, Precious is a hard knocks with heart tale following an illiterate, overweight and pregnant teenager. Not your average heroine, Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) has endured a life of sexual molestation at the hands of her father, verbal and physical abuse her mother (played by Mo’Nique). Things take a turn up the ‘slightly improved’ path when she starts attending an alternative school with a bunch of other misfits and outcasts. Honeycombed with fantastical escapism, and straying stylistically somewhere between Dangerous Minds and a gritty, heartrending reality, Precious works best in the latter. Sidibe is a stunning new talent, plucked from 400 wannabes who were first put through Actor’s Boot Camp, while genuine performances from Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and the mother Mo’Nique are similarly touching. A diamond in the rough. (AB)

Want to WIN a double preview pass plus copy of Push? Head to the Giveaways section by Friday Jan 29!