PLOT: Akeelah, 11, lives in a tough neighbourhood in South L.A. It takes all her courage to enter a spelling bee at her school, and when she succeeds and progresses toward the national finals, it changes everyone around her for the better.
The gripping action in Akeelah And The Bee is really edge-of-your-seat material. That's unexpected, as it's a movie about children spelling big words.
Akeelah And The Bee is a heartfelt family outing about a child overcoming adversity, and try as we might, we just can't work up any cynicism about it. That's because the outstanding performance from Keke Palmer, who plays Akeelah, demands an emotional investment from viewers.
Akeelah is an 11-year-old girl who lives in a tough neighbourhood in Los Angeles. She cuts classes and she's not a great student, but she is a superb speller and a killer Scrabble player. Akeelah doesn't want to be seen as a "brain" by her peers, but when teachers insist she enter her school spelling bee, she has to comply. She wins.
Akeelah is surprised. Her mother (Angela Bassett) is annoyed, because she reckons the spelling bee will distract Akeelah from her other studies. Akeelah can move on to a regional spelling bee, but she is warned that she'll be competing with rich white and Asian kids who have spelling coaches and other resources that she won't have.
Nobody expects Akeelah to do all that well. Akeelah herself has no expectations, which is important. The door is opened for her to quit the whole spelling thing. She doesn't quit.
She ends up being coached by one Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), a reclusive academic who lives in her neighbourhood. As Akeelah wins local and regional competitions and begins to move toward the national finals in Washington, her family and her entire neighbourhood begin to rally around the cause. Even when the gang members in her 'hood cheer her on, it's difficult to sneer at the feel-good nature of Akeelah And The Bee, no doubt because the film is really a shout-out to literacy and academic rigour. Or maybe it's just a well-made movie.
Aleelah And The Bee does a good job of engaging the emotions. The story does not shy away from the challenges Akeelah faces because of racial and economic inequality, but it doesn't neglect to show the hurdles Akeelah creates for herself, either. The film has a good pace and is never boring; what with the strong performances and all those messages about courage, hard work and learning, Akeelah And The Bee is a worthwhile family film. That's rare.
BOTTOM LINE: Keke Palmer carries this entire movie on her capable adolescent shoulders. The focus on one little girl and her world is key to making a story about spelling fully engaging.
(This film is rated G)
