08/05/06 Akeelah And The Bee

Akeelah And The Bee (2006), directed by Doug Atchison

watched w/ Leslie & Rebecca; theater (Blue Ridge Cinema, Raleigh, NC)

Leslie & I are hosting my little sister Rebecca to a weekend of fun in the big city, so after our pizza dinner and Ben & Jerry's pit stop...I let Becca choose the film to catch at the $1 theater. She chose this one, and at first I thought it was going to be like any other cheesy child prodigy type movie...think "The Wizard" or "Searching For Bobby Fischer" (which oddly enough had Laurence Fishburne again in the role of stoic mentor to the prodigy)...that would run the typical gamut of formulaic inspirational dramas. However, I have to give credit to my little sister on picking out a much more intelligent and heart-warming picture in this one. I was pleasantly surprised to with this tale of young Akeelah (newcomer Keke Palmer) who is an exceptionally smart kid who has had to deal with incredibly difficult things in her young life. Akeelah has lost her loving father, has a busy mother who is trying her best to provide for her family at the expense of spending time with them, a sister who is herself a single mother, a brother who's a wannabe gangster, and all the other everyday turmoil of growing up in the ghetto of South Central L.A. Akeelah channels her anger and sadness through one particular aspect of her genius, that of spelling words and the learning of their definitions. Her gift seems a burden to her, a constant source of ridicule from classmates, but is recognized by teachers to be an incredible one that could land her a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee (www.spellingbee.com). While enlisting the help of word guru Dr. Larabee (Fishburne), Akeelah begins to realize her potential, learn some important life lessons, and galvanize the interest and support of her local community, family and friends. It's a truly inspirational story for everyone, and the actors make the scenarios seem believable yet magical all at the same time. It allows a glimpse into a competitive world of academia for youngsters (if you really want to see the heated battles of wordplay, check out the documentary "Spellbound" of recent years), and shows the always engaging storyline of achieving one's dreams when putting your mind to it. Kind of like my silly little quest of this year to achieve 365 days in a row of watching a film. I'm dedicated, and to prove it...look at tonight's feature, where we got stuck in a long line to get tickets into the cinema...missed about 5 minuted of the beginning...I stayed through the rest of the film's entirety...then sat in the theater while the employees cleaned the aisles for the next showing a half hour later...all in order to catch the beginning and thereby keep the streak alive. Now, if only someday they make an inspirational film about me.

4 out of 5 stars