Akeelah And The Bee DVD Review

"Akeelah And The Bee" reviews

DVD

Akeelah And The Bee

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-03-23 16:01:03

Provider

DVD Review

Following the excellent documentary Spellbound there was the largely ignored Bee Season. Akeelah And The Bee is the another drama focussing on the strange world of competitive spelling.

Where Doug Atchison's film differs is that it focusses on a young African American girl in South Central LA. 11-year-old Keke Palmer is the titular youngster, one of four children born to Tanya (Angela Bassett),.

Her siblings lives range from the fringes of gangs and premature motherhood to the armed forces. Concerned about the bullying that sometimes comes with being a brainy kid, Tanya keeps her genius for words - learnt from her Scrabble-obsessed father - a secret, but is gradually coaxed into the open by Dr Larrabee (Laurence Fishburne), a university professor on sabbatical.

The film is full of familiar plot devices - bumps that appear in the road simply to provide minor diversion for Tanya - but what it lacks in art Akeelah And The Bee makes up for in heart, while the contests themselves, never fail to crank the dramatic tension up to eleven. Fishburne and Bassett, who played Ike and Tina Turner and the lead character's parents in Boyz In The Hood, are perfectly cast but even their considerable presence doesn't overshadow the excellent Palmer.

This is one for the nature/nurture debate, but ultimately a refreshingly challenging and inspirational story.