Spellbound Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)March 3rd, 2003
SPELLBOUND
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Jeffrey Blitz's Academy Award nominated documentary, SPELLBOUND, is just the sort of film that the documentary branch of the Academy loves. It follows a melting pot of American students as they head for the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C. It's an uplifting tale that shows how members of all ethnic and socioeconomic groups can make it to the top in the United States if they just try hard enough. It's a heart-warming story that could itself turn out to be a winner when the Oscars are handed out.
Unlike HOOP DREAMS, one of the documentary gold standards, SPELLBOUND follows not just a couple of contestants but eight different ones. Add in the overhead of the peripheral issues to cover, like what happened to some of the previous winners, and you are left with less than ten minutes per contestant. This means the documentary is forced to skim the surface rather than go for depth about the participants. What we get is both fascinating and frustrating. I left wanting to know more about the kids. Why did they want to do this? How did their lives differ from other bright kids who didn't try out? And exactly how did they go about cramming these incredibly obscure words into their young brains?
Some conclusions were obvious. Second generation hyphenated-Americans apparently study and achieve at much, much higher rates than kids whose families have been here for many generations. Money does appear to help. One kid had separate tutors for words of French, German and Spanish origin. He would have had one for Latin but that was covered at school. Another child's grandfather paid one thousand people in India to pray non-stop for his grandson to win. Perhaps most astonishing of all is that a child, whose father still can't speak English and who lives in a family that speaks only Spanish at home, can still become a championship speller of the English language.
Kids will be kids. The funniest moments in the film -- other than a congratulatory sign outside a Hooter's restaurant -- came from the expressions of pain on the kids' faces. Although most were deadly serious, some kids were happy to play to the cameras. Try to catch this documentary. But, if you miss it, you can watch the bee itself on television. ESPN covers it as a sport. What's next -- the national geography bee? Hold that idea, I believe there already is one.
SPELLBOUND runs 1:37. It is not rated but would be a G and would be a great choice for all ages.
The film is being shown as part of San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival (www.Cinequest.org), which runs February 27 to March 9, 2003.
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