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It has been said that the only person to fear is an unloved one. Precious Jones (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, film debut) is sixteen and is about to have the second child by her mother’s boyfriend, who is also her father. She lives at home with her mother Mary (Mo’Nique, SOUL PLANE) who belittles her at every turn and treats her like a servant. She’s obese and practically illiterate. She’s ridiculed for her appearance simply walking down the street. She’s been beaten down by life so hard that she barely speaks.

Then she is given an option to attend an alternative school, where they will prepare her to take her GED. Her teacher, Ms. Blu Rain (Paula Patton, HITCH), isn’t some miracle worker teacher. She’s just the first person in Precious’s life to care even a bit. In class, the students write about themselves and their lives. Ms. Rain encourages them to think. Mrs. Weiss (Mariah Carey, WISEGIRLS) is Precious’s social worker. She’s a woman who has probably heard a thousand stories like Precious’s, but something about this sad girl really touches her.

The key part of the film’s success is the central performance from newcomer Sidibe. Her work is deceptive and nuanced and patient and natural. One would think that she is like her morose character who wears a scowl on her face as a shield and hurls obscenities like weapons against a cruel world. But in interviews she comes off as the complete opposite. Her real personality often comes out in the film’s fantasy sequences where Precious escapes into dreams where she is walking the red carpet. A dream that should come true for the actress come Oscar time. Watch how Sidibe slowly brings Precious out of her shell. There is a key moment toward the end when Precious writes “Why me?” in her journal. Sidibe breaks the audience’s heart in a display of public emotion that this character would have previously never expressed. We see she has grown, but have the obstacles that are clawing to keep her down at every moment finally done her in?

Through her welfare-milking, couch-potato mother Mary, a vulgar woman who would make some of Shelley Winter’s moms look like Mrs. Cleaver, we see the vicious circle of poverty, ignorance and violence. It’s the only thing she seems capable of handing down to poor Precious. There has been Oscar buzz Mo’Nique as well and it is warranted. Mo’Nique’s performance reminds me of watching Whoopi Goldberg in THE COLOR PURPLE. It has nothing to do with race or the similarity of the roles, but as stand-up comediennes one does not expect performances of such profound emotional resonance. Mo’Nique’s closing scene explains so much about her character and it’s a testament to Mo’Nique as a performer that we understand her character even if her actions cannot gain our sympathy.

Patton and Carey also give wonderful performances as well. Patton makes Ms. Rain a kind smart woman, who pushes her students. There is one particular exchange between her and Precious where she urges Precious to make a tough decision that is probably the wise decision, but one wonders if it’s the right decision of Precious considering what she really needs and wants. Carey’s performance is like Mo’Nique’s in that one wouldn’t of expected this out of her. Completely unglamorous, she is world-weary and mature. It’s a far cry from GLITTER.

Director Lee Daniels, working from Geoffrey Fletcher’s adaptation of Sapphire’s novel PUSH, could have made this a movie-of-the-week melodrama, but we never for a moment feel he’s going for effect. In the end, the film comes off as a lesson in personal responsibility. It reminds me of a poem from William Ernest Henley.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.