Akeelah and the Bee Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)May 11th, 2006
AKEELAH AND THE BEE
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2006 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
"Akeelah and the Bee" paraphernalia ("articles used in a particular activity; equipment, especially a married woman's personal property exclusive of her dowry"--from the Greek para-, meaning *beyond*, and phern, *a dowry*) has been adorning Starbucks' shelves for months (and not surprisingly either; this inspirational family film, the latest hardscrabble--make that hard Scrabble(r)--Hollywood product to grapple with grammar following "Spellbound" and "Bee Season" and preceding "Wordplay," is being promoted and distributed under the inaugural auspices of "Starbucks Entertainment"). In fact, only today did the 60% post-consumer fiber sleeve swaddling my shade-grown Sulawesi inform me that last year's National Spelling Bee winning word was *appoggiatura* ("an embellishing note on the musical scale typically written in a smaller size and/or font"). I had no idea.
And while there's nothing in this newest "'Bee" movie we haven't seen a gazillion times before (plucky African-American youngster from the impoverished side of the tracks beats the proverbial odds by literally skipping out of class in order to pursue that blasted 'bee in her bonnet), the film tugs at the heartstrings from the get go and keeps on doing so long after the end credits have rolled.
For feel good--if unashamedly manipulative--movies, this one feels unashamedly good.
The only thing 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson (winningly played by Keke Palmer) is good at is spelling, or so she believes. Recognizing this talent, her South Central Los Angeles English teacher suggests Akeelah try out for the school's annual spelling bee. Reluctantly Akeelah signs on and her easy victory affords her the opportunity to compete at the regional level alongside the know-it-all rich kids from the swankier neighboring middle schools of Woodland- and Beverly Hills. That's when headmaster Welch (an all-grown-up Curtis Armstrong aka Booger from the "Revenge of the Nerds" pictures) introduces Akeelah to Dr. Joshua Larabee, a UCLA professor who agrees to coach the young brainiac, just as long as she loses the ghetto talk and accompanying attitude.
With plenty of obstacles in her way, the bright, embattled Akeelah eventually makes it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals in Washington, DC, where the pint-sized etymologist faces off against tough opposition and such mind-teasers as xanthosis, logorrhea, and staphylococci.
Written and directed with notably few surprises by Doug Atchison, "Akeelah and the Bee" is a formula flick that features the ever-reliable Angela Bassett ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back") as Akeelah's hardworking single mother-of-four who's way too busy to notice and co-producer Laurence Fishburne ("The Matrix" trilogy) as Dr. Larabee, with whom Akeelah shares a sad bond as well as a linguist's love for language. Early in her tutelage Larabee has Akeelah read aloud a quote on his wall, one championing the confidence to believe in oneself no matter what. It's a sentiment that cements the film together, succinctly separating its vulnerable emotional core from a surfeit of cornball classism.
Akeelah's 'bee is one that's sure to generate its own viable buzz. As the late lyrical wordsmith Robert Palmer once remarked, it's s.i.m.p.l.y. i.r.r.e.s.i.s.t.i.b.l.e.
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David N. Butterworth
[email protected]
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