A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Akeelah and the Bee

Date Viewed: 4/29/06

Details:

Keke Palmer

Laurence Fishburne

Angela Bassett

Curtis Armstrong

J.R. Villarreal

Sean Michael

Written and directed by: Doug Atchison

Score: +

The Review: Entertaining, feel-good entry of the season -- and besides, it gives you a chance to see how well you can spell.

Following in the footsteps of the 2002 documentary Spellbound and Richard Gere's Bee Season, Akeelah revolves around the spelling bee; but as with any drama, it's the characters and situation that make the film. Akeelah (Palmer) lives with her (unsupportive) widowed mother (Bassett) and attends high school in one of the less distinguished suburbs of Los Angeles. Her memories of her father play a major role in grounding her interest in words. Unwilling to enter a school spelling bee because she wants to stay "in" with her friends, she is nonetheless tricked into participation, where she is further tested by a local university professor (Fishburne). This develops into a rocky and occasionally amusing mentor-student relationship as she draws him out of his own tragedies.

Palmer is excellent as the conflicted (and word-smart) Akeelah. Her fellow students are well-cast and interesting in their own rights: Javier (Villarreal) and Dylan (Michael) are both stand-outs worth watching.

Strong echoes of Searching for Bobby Fisher, strengthened further by the presence of Laurence Fishburne in both. It's not only a good movie, but it focuses on the problem of how to deal with individual achievement and mental acuity in (or against?) a culture that doesn't appear to reward such behavior. This culture is much broader than one simply defined by race, and has become a contemporary impediment to a rational society.

(27-May-06)

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