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Dir. Lee Daniels
Rating: 8.8 | 0 User Reviews | Send to Friend
Bibliophiles can heave a sigh of relief: Director Lee Daniels (Monster’s Ball, The Woodsman) does author Sapphire’s novel justice and then some. The Philly native says he practically begged Sapphire to produce and direct a filmic adaptation of Push and his dedication to her work has successfully translated onto celluloid. Set in Harlem circa 1987, 16-year-old Clareece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) lives in a treacherous terrain laden with crack cocaine, sex, violence and a failing education system. She navigates this ugly world with strength -- almost too calmly -- and doesn’t ask for much. What she dreams of is a light skinned boyfriend with nice hair and the life of a celebrity, but first she has to give birth to her second child, figure out some way of gaining rudimentary knowledge after being kicked out of high school and escape an unrelenting trifecta of abuse (sexual, physical and emotional). New actress Sidibe astutely portrays Precious with a resigned detachment, and an endearing sense of humor. Lighter touches pepper the film and keep it from being unrelentingly dejecting, like the scenes with Precious and her classmates at the alternative school or her interjectory fantastical daydreams. In these moments, Precious and her world even more tangibly authentic; the light helping to offset the dark. Cast along with unknown Sidibe are an assortment of celebrities, many of whom surprisingly enthralling: Lenny Kravitz is the nurse’s assistant who becomes part of Precious’ extended family; Mariah Carey is the (slightly) mustached welfare counselor, Mrs. Weiss; and Paula Patton is Blue Rain, the lesbian alternative school teacher who dispenses life lessons clearly earned from difficult experiences of her own. But comedienne Mo’Nique’s execution of Mary, Precious’ quintessential welfare queen mother, effectively separates her from the pack. Mary is one of the more menacing threats looming over Precious but she remains a fighter. She is too focused on her own motherhood to be taken out by the sickeningly traumatic shots life gives to her. "I ain’t worried about dying," she explains. "I got to worry about how I’m gonna raise these kids.”
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