- Director:
Doug Atchison - AMG Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Childhood Drama, Urban Drama
- Themes: Teachers and Students, Child Prodigies, Mothers and Daughters
- Main Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Keke Palmer, Curtis Armstrong, Tzi Ma
- Release Year: 2006
- Country: US
- Run Time: 107 minutes
- MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old being raised by her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she's hardly a star student and seems afraid of acting like a bookworm around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah's teacher sees genuine potential in her student and encourages her to enter the school's spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win. Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals under the aegis of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who consents to act as her coach A college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, Larabee is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah's ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee. Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from wealthy families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah's best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah's life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships in Washington, D.C., she will not do so with Tanya's permission or blessing. This marks the first onscreen reunion of Bassett and Fishburne since their Academy Award-nommed performances as Ike Turner and Tina Turner in Brian Gibson's 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The average sports movie has a very predictable plot. The misfit learns that he or she has a particular aptitude for the game, there is a coach who knows how to motivate and turns out to hide a heart of gold underneath the gruff exterior, our hero overcomes self-doubt, and eventually everyone gets to "The Big Game." Akeelah and the Bee follows these points at every turn, but the fact that the "sport" is spelling, along with the remarkable skill of the cast and crew, makes it a very strong entry in the sports movie genre. The superb Keke Palmer plays Akeelah, the young black girl from the inner city who through skill and determination battles her way into the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. Palmer feels like she was plucked right off the streets, but she is in fact a professional actress. She handles the deep emotional scenes with a combination of resolve and helplessness that dramatically underscore her character's intelligence and vulnerability. Laurence Fishburne has an ability to express intellectual and/or physical authority alongside a charm that can make that authority seem either less or more threatening depending on the character. He embodies Akeelah's mentor, Dr. Larabee, with the sadness and severity of a man cut off from his own feelings, but smart enough to know this. Angela Bassett, as Akeelah's mother, must play the most difficult part in the film. How do you portray a mother who is opposed to her child being in a spelling bee without coming off like a monster? Because the screenwriters have done an excellent job fashioning an effective if obvious backstory for her, Bassett is never afraid to make her character unappealing when she needs to be. Anyone can see where and how Akeelah gets her dogged determined streak. The supporting cast, especially the group of actors who play Akeelah's friends and competitors, all feel natural and are very appealing. There are no surprises in the film, just rock-solid acting and flawless craftsmanship from the writer/director Doug Atchison. If nothing else, Akeelah and the Bee showcases the joys of solid story structure married to talented artists. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie GuideCast
- Laurence Fishburne - Dr. Larabee
- Angela Bassett - Tanya
- Keke Palmer - Akeelah Anderson
- Curtis Armstrong - Mr. Welch
- Tzi Ma - Mr. Chiu
