This is high up on my list of favourites this year and one of
the best family films I've ever seen. Very accessible, very well
structured and VERY well acted.
Review:
Akeelah and the Bee (Starbucks Entertainments first feature) is
another feature focused on the tough and extremely vexing sport of
competitive spelling better known as The Spelling Bee Almost
becoming a sub-genre of sorts, the most prominent of these eponymic
features include the tense and awesome documentary Spellbound and
the drama Bee Season with Richard Gere. It has a sort of
unsettling charm in the idea of harried kids pushed into the
spotlight for the most important thing (according to their
parents and peers) that theyd ever do in their lives. It makes
looking at that one nervous guy before final exams pale in
comparison.
Akeelah (Keke Palmer) is the customary template for youngsters that
break the environmental mold from which they come from. The
perennial nurture vs. nature debate rages again as Akeelah finds
herself pitted against privileged and wealthy kids her age that are
all vying for the same prize. As shes an African-American girl who
depends on her single mother, and looking out for her wayward
siblings in a troubled neighbourhood, she also has the distinction
of being the smartest girl in her middle school. She also has a
prodigious affinity for words and the English language.
She spells these words magnificently, surprising everyone but her
mother (Angela Bassett) whos too busy to notice. As incidents
naturally leads to circumstance, she finds herself pushed to
represent her disadvantaged school in the state Spelling Bee
competition to not get left behind. Under the tutelage of Dr
Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), she finds the necessary strength of
character to raise her up from her inhibitions. Predictable right?
Undoubtedly, it is. But therein lies its main draw. It does not
deny what it is, which is a family drama thats inherently preachy
and sugarcoated at the end. Beneath its sentimentalities is a film
full up with heartfelt messages that are inspirational whether or
not cynicisms get in the way of it. Its ardent conventionality
needs the categorised supporting characters such as the
well-meaning competitor and the Machiavellian adversary with a
secret.
In many ways, Akeelah is lucky to be who she is. Non-descript
characters come and go around her neighbourhood but its easily
discernable that shes not as bad off as we are led to believe.
Compared to her peers in Woodland Hills and Beverly Hills, shes
just the little black girl but shes also the girl whos richer
in the bank of love as it were. The alienation she feels at home in
her neighbourhood is as potent as the alienation she feels shoved
in the spotlight of Americas affluent. As she finds her place in
one, she finds her place in the world by realising that winning is
an important goal to have but having the courage to try is the real
achievement.
Something admirable about writer-director Doug Atchisons pitch in
crafting these social issues is that he doesnt raise class
prejudices and racial stereotypes onto the pulpit but never waters
down the issues by blatantly whitewashing it. He reinforces these
stereotypes by lighting dapping them with observations and
pragmatism but never creates caricatures of them. The formidable
Fishburne and Bassett team seen in Boyz n the Hood and Whats
Love Got To Do With It still exudes the intensity weve come to
realise from the pairing. As the two central parental figures in
Akeelahs life, they tear her down with their demons and prop her
back up with their better angels. Keke Palmer must have given the
best performance by a youngster this year with Akeelah. She
upstages her more magnetic co-stars with erudite resilience having
carried the entire film on her deceptively scrawny shoulders. She
makes this film a testament to the potential of adolescents.
An unapologetically schmaltzy affair, Akeelah and the Bee is a
film about messages. Its a homily about shaking free the shackles
of apprehension through knowledge. By showing the willingness of
people who want to change and see the potential that theyve lost
in those around them, its ultimately about forgiving the
misgivings of others and most importantly forgiving ones self. As
far as feel good movies go, this one is a definite keeper and is
definitely one of my favourites this year.
I-n-d-u-b-i-t-a-b-l-y.
4/5
