 Print
E-mail
Movie Review: "Akeelah and the Bee"Published: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 10:56:59 -0400 "Pulchritude." A sudden hush, as everyone in the theater starts spelling in their heads. "P-U-L-C-R-I-T-U-D-E." No Akeelah! No! I saw that word on a Starbucks coffee sleeve, and there is an H in there! With a massive marketing campaign by Starbucks, this movie has to be groovy, unpredictable, and probably throws in a random "save the earth" message too, right? On the contrary, Akeelah and the Bee offers viewers a very real, heartwarming look at eleven year old Akeelah Anderson who, with the help of her community, goes all the way to the National Spelling Bee. Although Akeelah was relatively low budget, with such well known names as Annette Benning and Laurence Fishbourne, this film does not dissapoint. Every single one of the actors seems perfectly cast, especially Akeelah herself, who presents a real picture of a young girl torn between the desire to do well and all of the messages of her environment that hold her back. Akeelah has inherited her love of words from her father, who was killed by street fighting in their Los Angeles neighborhood when Akeelah was only six. She spends her spare time writing lists of words in journals, playing scrabble on the computer, and reading the dictionary. When Akeelah wins a school-wide spelling bee, her principal isn't the only one watching. Joshua Larabee (Fishbourne) a professor on a sabbatical also sees her, a professor who himself travelled to the National Spelling Bee, and who has coached other spelling bee champions. At the insistance of Akeelah's principal, Akeelah begins to meet with Professor Larabee. Fishbourne begins to train Akeelah, but instead of only teaching her route memorization of words, also teaches her the power of words, by having her read speeches and writings of great men and women. While, of course, Akeelah does ring somewhat like the traditional "sports" movie, the difference lies in the completely academic leaning of Akeelah's "sport." Because of this, the old sports cliches apply in very different ways. Only containing a few instances of language, mostly early on in the movie, this movie is appropriate for nearly everyone. Akeelah offers the story of leaving behind everything that holds us down, while at the same time, drawing on the support of our family and friends who are more than willing to help us succeed in everything we try. [And yes, for the record, Akeelah does eventually learn how to spell "pulchritude."]
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
