The film PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE is quickly earning critical acclaim and box-office success. As the film’s lengthy title suggests, it is adapted from a book published back in 1996 . The movie tells the story of 16-year old Precious, a girl whose day-to-day life in Harlem deals with such issues as incest, rape and poverty. (more)

Thanks to the film’s big-name producers (Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry), PRECIOUS earned a distribution deal with Lionsgate after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize for best drama. (more) 

PRECIOUS received a limited release on November 6 and, to date, is still only playing in a handful of theaters across the country. However, the film is has cracked the top five of the weekend box-office since its release. Most recently it was number three, surpassed only by the disaster flick 2012 and the holiday remake A CHRISTMAS CAROL. (more)

Critics are praising the film. A.O. Scott of the NEW YORK TIMES calls the film, “the illumination of an individual’s painful and partial self-realization” (more) and Joe Morgenstern of the WALL STREET JOURNAL says, “If the filmmaking weren't so skillful and the acting weren't so consistently brilliant, you might mistake this production for a raw slice of life from a Third World country where movies can still be instruments of moral instruction and social change.” (more)

But, per the usual, there are critics who have been unmoved by this tale. Dana Stevens of SLATE.COM finds the film problematic and believes that the filmmakers have, “created something uncomfortably close to poverty porn.” (more)

With PRECIOUS up against THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the film fares at the box office as it continues its limited release.