Spellbound Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)June 16th, 2003
SPELLBOUND
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Nine million schoolchildren are given the opportunity to compete in spelling bees, but only two hundred forty-nine make it through their local and regional competitions to the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. In 1999, Cinematographer/Director Jeffrey Blitz followed five girls and three boys from Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Connecticut, the District, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey who are all "Spellbound."
Blitz recognized the emerging popularity of the National Spelling Bee, which draws a large ESPN audience, and came up with a winning documentary subject. While not all of his eight choices are equally engaging, he has picked kids from all walks of life who approach the bee with different motivational factors and aspirations. "Spellbound" is at its best building suspense when the kids are stymied by surprising words (one little girl practically recoils in horror when offered 'chateaubriand') and Blitz has a knack for capturing their entertaining facial expressions.
Blitz also did his homework coming up with his coastal candidates, as the eventual winner is among them, although she is one of the blander subjects. Harry Altman, a geeky motor mouth who admits he could be called talkative, was surely chosen for his entertainment value. Harry's face is made of silly putty and his conversation with himself as he wrestles with 'banns,' a Catholic word the Jewish boy has clearly never been exposed to, is a riot. (Harry's mother Fay equates her son's conundrum to a boy from Texas confounded by 'yenta.') These idiosyncrasies also help to point out that the Bee doesn't necessarily produce the best speller, but the luckiest among a talented group. Neil Kadakia, a boy whose Indian grandfather has hired one thousand chanters to ensure his victory, is almost undone by 'darjeeling,' an irony that seems to be lost on his Indian-born dad who is simply too intent on his boy's winning. Angela Arenivar, the Texas daughter of a Mexican cattleman who speaks no English, can spell eight syllable words but is flummoxed by 'wheedle.'
Emily Stagg is competitive and wants to win the Bee because she is not the best horse rider in her riding group or singer in her choir. Her British dad comments on the sheer Americana of the Bee, a competition that would be of no interest in Europe. This could be due to the sheer perversity of the English language itself - one of the four questions that contestants are allowed is 'What is the language of origin?' Ashley White is a shy black contestant from a District housing project whose single mother decries the lack of publicity and recognition her daughter receives compared to other contestants (Blitz shows a number of congratulatory signs cheering on home town entrants, one amusingly misspelled). What drives Angela besides her mother's pride is almost a mystery as the girl is clearly terrified by the experience.
Ted Brigham's simply the smartest kid in Rolla, MS and he relishes the idea of being around other kids more like himself even if his best subject is math. Nupur Lala from Tampa has her own Greek chorus of three neighborhood boys she was driven to beat. My favorite contestant, April DeGideo, wears glasses and a perpetually serious expression, even when describing her oblivious parents as Archie and Edith Bunker. The DeGideo family dog almost steals the entire movie.
Blitz and his editor, Yana Gorskaya, have fashioned their story very conventionally, however. One by one we're given a geographical location and short piece on each of these kids, their parents and teachers, like the filler bios that run during the Olympic games. Gorskaya gooses the action up a little with some machine-gun paced moments of disqualifications, but the film does suffer from occasional draggy pacing. An attempt to fill in some of the Bee's history by interviewing its first winner from 1925 and representatives of the past three decades seems half-hearted and doesn't add anything of interest. Still "Spellbound" is blessed by its subject matter. It's a crowd-pleaser.
B+
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