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| Movie Review |
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Akeelah and the Bee
- In theaters April 28th, 2006
- Rated PG for some language
- Runtime: 112 min
- 3.25 out of 5
COMPLETE REVIEW BELOW
Review by Jennifer Pflughaupt
Li
sten to Jennifer's round table discussion with
Keke
Palmer (Akeelah) and Doug Atchison (writer/director)
as they talk about preparation, Keke's performance
and the excitement of a true spelling bee
Akeelah Anderson is a well-rounded kid who's growing
up in the rough part of town in L.A. Her family has
been through a tragic loss and the only thing giving
Akeelah some comfort is the fact that she can spell
pretty much any word without flinching. She isn't the
stereotypical straight-A student that is good at
anything that crosses her path, but she is in deed a
stellar speller. It is a natural ability that she
embraced through playing Scrabble with her father
before he passed away. "Akeelah and the Bee"
illustrates to the viewer the phenomenon of an 11
year
old's ability to overcome any fear and to stare it
straight in the face. I found myself in awe of the
eloquently displayed strength that a prepubescent girl
can have.
"Akeelah and the Bee" takes you on an extraordinary
journey to the National Spelling Bee in Washington,
D.C. and highlights not only Akeelah's path to the
top, but her opponents' as well. This film even took
me back to my early years of sitting in my elementary
auditorium when I would have to sit in a row with all
the other spellers and wait my turn to spell the word
that might take me to the next level. Although I
never made it, I understood and felt the exhilarating
intensity that "Akeelah and the Bee" brought to the
screen. As I spoke with the writer/director Doug
Atchison, he described the electrifying power that
flowed in the room of the National Spelling Bees he
attended to be more intoxicating than any football
game in a sold out stadium full of screaming fans and
portrayed that perfectly in his film.
Just when I thought good, heartfelt family films were
a thing of the past, "Akeelah and the Bee" buzzed in
as if from nowhere. Film greats such as Angela Basset
and Laurence Fishburne grace the screen with the
fabulous up and comer Keke Palmer who gives a
spellbinding performance as Akeelah Anderson. I give
the flick 3 and ¼ stars out of 5.
============================
Jennifer is a freelance film critic with an overloaded
life. She has a rock star husband, a 2 year old
daughter, a military career in the U.S. Air Force
Reserves, and she is also a full time student at UNT
working towards getting her degree in kicking butt and
taking names. Some of her favorite films are "Heart
of the Game", "The Lords of Dogtown", "American
History X", "The Boondock Saints", "Miss
Congeniality", "The United States of Leland" , "Return
to Me" and "Thank You for Smoking". You can check
out her personal information, plus read her writings and
reviews on Myspace .
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