by Ginger Voight

Created on: February 22, 2010

There are some movies that are so dark and so gritty you almost have to muster up the presence of mind to even watch them.  Such is the case for Best Picture nominee "Precious", about a black girl in Harlem who has to overcome an abusive mother, an incestuous father, obesity, illiteracy and bearing two children by the time she is sixteen years old.

Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire, this drama is not unlike a tiny sprout attempting to push up toward the sun out of the broken concrete sidewalks of the inner city.  It unflinchingly takes on taboos, and stereotypes, while simultaneously making you fall in love with a very unlikely heroine.

Make no mistake.  This is a powerful hero's journey that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has acknowledged with six Oscar nominations.  These include best picture of the year, as well as Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Directing, Best Editing and Best Screenplay Adaptation.

The strength of this story relies a ton on the two nominated actresses; newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in the title role, as well as Mo'Nique, who plays Precious' abusive mother, Mary.  Their relationship is the catalyst for every challenge that Precious faces in her life, and both of these actresses deliver a heart wrenching, painfully cutting depiction of abuse, hatred, resentment and yearning.

Our story starts with Precious in her public high school.  She's a daydreamer, which gets her through the bitter reality she faces when she goes home to face her mother.  Mary is the stereotypical inner city welfare mother who has no interest in making any attempts to better herself or her family.  She just wants her check, and she's willing to put up with just about anything to get it.

This includes allowing her man to sexually abuse her daughter.  Director Lee Daniels makes the very shrewd decision to only show us the barest glimpses of the violence; this content is a bitter pill to swallow without any unnecessary details that would border on exploitation.  Instead it takes you right up to the brink of your tolerance and then allows you - like Precious - a welcome reprieve from the depravity one only need hints toward in order to get the full effect.

That is why we see things from the POV of Precious as she daydreams of a life far, far away from the situations she is unable to escape except in her mind.

The beacon of hope comes from a no-nonsense teacher named Ms. Rain, played with the

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