Precious - 4 smiles

“Precious,’ a harrowing tale of a 1987 Bronx teen, is both tragic and moving, hard to watch and uplifting. Ultimately, it’s a story of Precious’ journey to self-worth although this discovery comes with a price. Clareece Precious Jones, an obese 16-yer old girl who is still in junior high, excels in math but can barely read or write. At home, she is at the beck-and-call of her quick-tempered mother, Mary (Mo’Nique), and is pregnant with her second child as a result of rape by her father. When the principal of Precious’ school learns about the pregnancy, she arranges for her to go to an alternative school although Mary considers Precious too dumb to learn. She continually badgers Precious to go to the welfare office, which she finally does and faces uncomfortable questions from her case office, Mrs. Weiss (Mariah Carey). At school, under the patient eye of her teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), Precious begins to make progress with her reading and writing.

When this year’s Oscar nominees are announced, Gabby Sidibe will have a place alongside Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) for Best Actress. Hers is the kind of performance that’s hard to ignore because for two hours, Sidibe is Precious Jones. And we care what happens to her. Also amazing is Mo’Nique’s performance. Her Mary, full of anger and hate, is an ugly character and she puts everything in her performance. Mary emotionally and physically abuses her daughter in ways that are horrendous to watch and, on one occasion, she even tries to kill Precious by dropping a television on her. She, too, will earn an Oscar nomination. “Precious” is that rare human story that offers redemption without being overly manipulative. It’s one of the year’s best movies. 11/8/09