DVD Review - Akeelah and the Bee
Akeelah and the Bee generated a lot of positive notices when it came out earlier this year. However, even with all of its praise it did not perform well at the box office. But it was because of the film's good reviews that I decided to watch it on DVD.
Eleven year old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) lives in South Los Angeles with her single mother Tanya (Angela Bassett) and her siblings. Her father was killed when she was just six and it has been tough for her mother to raise four kids. One of her brothers is training to be a pilot and her other brother likes to hang out with the bad boys. Her sister is a single mom with a baby. Given the type of life she is leading there doesn't appear to be too much opportunity for Akeelah to get ahead in this world.
One day things start to change for her. Akeelah gets 100 on her spelling test and her teacher urges her to participate in a school wide spelling bee. When she wins that contest the principal of the school, Mr. Walsh, (Curtis Armstrong) proposes that she goes onto the regional bee. He also introduces her to Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) who is a college professor and who eventually becomes Akeelah's coach. Along the way Akeelah faces many obstacles including resistance from her mother. She also appears to be the only child in the competition who is from a lower income family. She also makes friends with one of her competitors who is named Javier (J.R. Villarreal) and meets another competitor named Dylan (Sean Michael) who is under a lot of pressure from his father to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington. As the film goes on we see that Akeelah is not the only one with obstacles in her path. Dr. Larabee has problems of his own that keep getting in the way. I am not going to tell you what happens at the bees. You will have to find that out on your own.
The film is written and directed by first time filmmaker Doug Atchison. His screenplay won a prize and when it was time to make the film it was decided that he should direct it as well. There is no doubt that the film is uplifting. But I found it to be extremely predictable. There wasn't anything in it that we haven't seen before. Both Bassett and Fishburne turn in good performances and it is nice to see them together again (they played Ike and Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It?). But the real star here is the young Ms. Palmer. She plays Akeelah with a combination of high energy and great emotion. The film would not work without her presence and I hope that she has a great future in the acting world.
Well, the verdict is that Akeelah and the Bee is a good but not great film. Despite that I do think it should be shown to students in inner city schools so that they can be inspired to work with their talents and try to overcome the obstacles in their paths. But if you want to see a movie with real suspense check out the wonderful Oscar nominated documentary Spellbound. That film had me sitting on the edge of my seat. And for something with a bit of a more unusual twist on spelling bees rent the underrated Bee Season starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche. And don't forget to keep that dictionary handy!
Eleven year old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) lives in South Los Angeles with her single mother Tanya (Angela Bassett) and her siblings. Her father was killed when she was just six and it has been tough for her mother to raise four kids. One of her brothers is training to be a pilot and her other brother likes to hang out with the bad boys. Her sister is a single mom with a baby. Given the type of life she is leading there doesn't appear to be too much opportunity for Akeelah to get ahead in this world.
One day things start to change for her. Akeelah gets 100 on her spelling test and her teacher urges her to participate in a school wide spelling bee. When she wins that contest the principal of the school, Mr. Walsh, (Curtis Armstrong) proposes that she goes onto the regional bee. He also introduces her to Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) who is a college professor and who eventually becomes Akeelah's coach. Along the way Akeelah faces many obstacles including resistance from her mother. She also appears to be the only child in the competition who is from a lower income family. She also makes friends with one of her competitors who is named Javier (J.R. Villarreal) and meets another competitor named Dylan (Sean Michael) who is under a lot of pressure from his father to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington. As the film goes on we see that Akeelah is not the only one with obstacles in her path. Dr. Larabee has problems of his own that keep getting in the way. I am not going to tell you what happens at the bees. You will have to find that out on your own.
The film is written and directed by first time filmmaker Doug Atchison. His screenplay won a prize and when it was time to make the film it was decided that he should direct it as well. There is no doubt that the film is uplifting. But I found it to be extremely predictable. There wasn't anything in it that we haven't seen before. Both Bassett and Fishburne turn in good performances and it is nice to see them together again (they played Ike and Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It?). But the real star here is the young Ms. Palmer. She plays Akeelah with a combination of high energy and great emotion. The film would not work without her presence and I hope that she has a great future in the acting world.
Well, the verdict is that Akeelah and the Bee is a good but not great film. Despite that I do think it should be shown to students in inner city schools so that they can be inspired to work with their talents and try to overcome the obstacles in their paths. But if you want to see a movie with real suspense check out the wonderful Oscar nominated documentary Spellbound. That film had me sitting on the edge of my seat. And for something with a bit of a more unusual twist on spelling bees rent the underrated Bee Season starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche. And don't forget to keep that dictionary handy!
posted by Film Fanatic | 1:55 PM
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