Akeelah and the Bee received a lot of critical acclaim when it first came out last year, but I never actually got around to watching it while it was still in theatres. So, a couple of nights ago, I happened to have a little bit of free time, so Susanne suggested that I curl up with her and the DVD version of Akeelah and the Bee to see what all the hub-bub was all about. It wasn’t nearly as kitchy as Little Miss Sunshine, but it offered a great story that actually captivated my interest for the entirety of its 112 minute running time. Who would have known that a spelling bee could be so intriguing?
Well, it’s not so much the spelling bee itself that makes the movie what it is, but rather the intimate interaction between Akeelah Anderson (played wonderfully by the young Keke Palmer) and Dr. Joshua Larabee (portrayed by the legendary Laurence Fishburne). It’s sort of like Karate Kid, except with word games instead of “wax on, wax off” exercises. Dr. Larabee takes Akeelah under his wing, coaching her through to the National Spelling Bee.
It’s a “black” movie, but it’s not about gangbanging and hustlin’ (though there are gang members in the movie… Crabman from My Name is Earl plays gang-leader Derrick-T). Akeelah goes to Crenshaw Middle School in one of the most notorious L.A. neighbourhoods, and she belongs to a single-mother family. She’s a total brainiac, but she doesn’t want to stick out from the crowd. It is through Dr. Larabee that Akeelah learns to be comfortable with who she is. It’s heartwarming, it’s touching, and it’s inspiring. You can’t help but feel empowered by Fishburne’s presence, and you can’t help but root on little Akeelah as she strives for success.
A couple of things that I thought were a little strange were 1) Akeelah befriends a Hispanic boy who goes to Woodland Hills, a school otherwise occupied by well-to-do white people and 2) the only Asian representation was a Chinese father bent on his child’s success at any cost and the son, who looked much more Indonesian or Laotian than Chinese.
If you enjoy movies like Dead Poets Society, you’ll like Akeelah and the Bee. Even I didn’t know a lot of words little Akeelah was spelling…. though I do know how to spell “synecdoche.” (Ironically, the Firefox built-in spell checker does not.)
FOUR STARS OUT OF FIVE
Although the whole spelling bee thing doesn’t sound that exciting, I loved Dead Poets Society, so I may pick this up this weekend 🙂
Ah. . the Dead Poets Society. It was the first book that my literature teacher asked us to pick up. The spelling bee movie was quite interesting in my opinion.
Jon, I agree that the whole spelling bee thing doesn’t sound all that interesting (although I was quite the “wordie” growing up), but the interactions and the character dynamics made the movie worth watching.
Movies Movies and Movies….
will there be anything different this week Michael..
I watched a lot of movies this week. 🙂 Yes, there will be something different.