'Precious' and few

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” takes a reverse three-and-a-half somersault dive into a deep pool of squalor. But it looks so pretty on the way down.

The movie’s point appears to be that no matter how badly off we may be or how low we may feel, our lives are blessed compared to what we see on the screen. The film imagines the worst life possible, and then imagines some more bad things happening to it. All of this is so we can feel better about ourselves -- “At least we aren’t leading the life of Precious,” we think, “even if she is based on the novel ‘Push,” by Sapphire.”

The story may be squalid, but it is made surprisingly well. Although the story tends to ramble toward the end, and has little focus at the beginning, the acting, directing and script are strong enough to make the film almost as good as its high-level buzz.

Gabourey Sidibe makes a striking debut as Precious, an illiterate, morbidly obese 16-year-old mother of a Down Syndrome child. Her abusive, vicious, worthless, welfare-scamming mother (a heartbreaking performance by Mo’Nique) treats her like a slave, assures that she has no self-esteem, knocks her out with heavy objects and on at least one occasion tries to kill her.

At the film’s beginning, Precious is pregnant again, and the father is once again her own father, who casually rapes her.

For too much of Geoffrey Fletcher’s script, this exposition is mistaken for story. Rather than showing us what Precious does, or what happens to her, the picture is content merely to pile on the suffering. Only in its latter stages does the film break free from being a compendium of misery. As it must, the story follows one of two trajectories -- either Precious survives against the odds or she is swallowed by her horrific circumstances.

Paula Patton makes a strong impression as a saintly teacher at Precious’ new school, and Mariah Carey turns on her native New York accent as a welfare caseworker with a heart. And a number of actresses enliven the classroom scenes with a spontaneity and vitality that seems real and unforced.

It is largely due to these classmates that the suffering is not entirely unrelieved. In the second half, the filmmakers remember that teen-age kids are funny. Even Precious manages a smile once when joshing with her new friends, and she becomes so bold as to tell us a clever joke in narration: When observing two educated women, she says, “They talk like TV channels I don’t watch.”

Director Lee Daniels produced “Monster’s Ball” and directed the underrated “Shadowboxer,” so he is no stranger to making bold cinematic statements. He may be a little prone to unnecessarily zooming the camera, but “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” is compellingly filmed and acted.

It’s a different kind of feel-good movie. You feel good, knowing that you don’t feel that bad.