MOVIE REVIEW: AKEELAH AND THE BEE (2006)

This film came to me at the right time. While I heard good things about it when it was first released, I did not watch this film until my daughter won her school spelling bee when she was in 6^th grade. It was recommended by several people when they heard my daughter was moving on to a regional competition, so we found a copy and watched it together as a family. It served us well for what might come next in my daughter’s journey.

Bright and precocious Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is a promising student, but stuck in the comings and goings of her South LA neighborhood. To avoid detention for truancy, she agrees to take part in her school’s spelling bee and wins. This sets in motion layered cycles of tension for Akeelah. Her protective single mother is wary of Akeelah embarrassing herself, Akeelah’s personality clashes at times with her spelling coach, and she runs into racial and class issues among her fellow competitors as she advances through levels of the spelling bee circuit.

The maturity and complexity of this film surprised me. It not only avoids being too predictable, but it often turns in the direction of the unexpected. These qualities make it a refreshing take on a story about a talented child rising above difficulties and barriers. Great effort is taken to prevent Akeelah from being just another all-too-perfect child protagonist. It rarely oversimplifies and it bypasses opportunities to slip into melodrama.

The child actors are splendid in this film. They all feel like real kids dealing with a variety of real issues and stresses. The film isn’t told from Akeelah’s perspective, but the innocence and genuineness Palmer brings to her character helps the audience experience the unfolding events from Akeelah’s point of view. This viewpoint makes you feel every bit as overwhelmed and invested in our protagonist.

There are a scant few moments where some movie-of-the-week schmaltz creeps in, but never for too long. Just like Akeelah, the story keeps moving forward- an admirable quality which helps this movie stand apart from so many other youth-oriented films. It has the guts to inspire without being saccharine, to allow space for weighty themes without getting bogged down. The film provides you with real estate to experience the story with our characters rather than just conveying it to you.

I was shocked to see Akeelah and the Bee’s depiction of the stress of spelling bees. My daughter had been nervous and had packet of words to study for her bee journey, but this film sparked open and honest conversations about the pressure bee participants put on themselves and that the adults in their lives may put on them on top of it all. It disappoints me to learn that adults can ruin fun academic outings like a spelling bee much like they do children’s sports, but maybe I should have seen it coming. It helped us navigate my daughter’s experience with grace and encouragement, and for that I am grateful.

FINAL RATING: 3.75 out of 5