Precious: A Sad Story

This is the story of Claireece Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) also called "Precious" a pregnant teen, not very good looking, with a most awful family. She is sixteen and is already the mother of a little girl who has Down syndrome and as the movie begins we learn she is pregnant again. In both cases the father is her own father who is a drug addict that leaves home and returns after a long while to stay some time, do his thing and leave again. Mary (Mo'nique) who is Precious's mother is an unbalanced person who mistreats Claireece both physically and psychologically and uses Precious's daughter to obtain welfare money from the government.  Precious lives in Harlem, a poor section of New York, and due to his pregnancy soon is forced to leave the school she is attending. Her problems do not end there. She gives birth to a healthy boy whose life is threatened by Mary. It seems Mary hates the baby because it is her husband's son but not hers. To make matters sadder for Precious later on it is revealed that her father has died of AIDS. Suspecting he could have transmitted the disease to her Precious undergoes a test and is declared seropositive.
That's Claireece's life. What is examplary about it is Precious herself. No one tells her that she has to fight on and yet she does. Apparently, Claireece has a natural ability to endure. Every time life brings another blow for her she just takes it and moves on the best way she can. Thus we see her attending a new school for women in her situation and with a teacher that likes her job and cares for her students. After Mary's mistreatment of her baby, Precious runs away from home and gets help from her teacher who places her in a house intended to aid people who have no home. She also gets help from Miss Weiss (Mariah Carey) a social worker who helps Precious separate from her mother especially after   learning that Precious was abused by her father with her mother's consent. There is no happy ending really. ¨Precious wants to continue for as long as she can and raise both Abdul, her baby son, and also her girl with Down syndrome without giving up her studies.
Is there anything bad about this film? Aside the theme which is of course quite depressing, the acting and the story are superb. I agreed with the Oscars this film received (one for Mo'nique as Best Supporting Actress and another for Best Adapted Screenplay), but I think Sidibe should have received the Oscar for Best Leading Actress: Sandra Bullock won that year but really I do not understand how that happened. Bullock's performance was only good but not unforgettable. Anyway Hollywood has done worse things in the past.
Five stars out of five for this one. 

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