Back Rowe Reviews
Real Time Movie Reviews from the Back Row of a Theater

Akeelah and the Bee (PG)

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Directed by: Doug Atchison
Starring: Keke Palmer
April 2006

“This Bee Might Not Sting, but It Sure Inspires”


In many ways, young Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), eleven year old African American student at south LA’s Crenshaw Middle School, is a living, breathing indictment against our education system. Brilliance so often goes unnoticed in overcrowded classrooms with beleaguered teachers destined to languish in a system that frequently fails to cultivate genuine talent, but rather, funnels students into the same general education model that’s endured for centuries.

Perpetually feeling out of place, Akeelah is bored to tears at school—she only turns in half of her assignments. For extra credit, Akeelah enters the school’s spelling bee and draws the attention of her principal and Dr. Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne). Impressed by her raw talent, both men encourage Akeelah to enter the regional spelling bee. Akeelah initially resists, but after some minor cajoling from her elders she accedes and shows both her inexperience and potential at the competition.

Soon after, Larabee (can writer/director Doug Atchison’s play on words
bee any more obvious?) becomes Akeelah’s coach and he immediately establishes some ground rules: jive talk is out; learning the roots and origins of words is in. Among the many challenges the word wizard faces is Akeelah’s toe-in-the-dirt demeanor, which comes complete with poor eye contact and church mouse decibel speech. Larabee instructs the youth, “You can’t be a shrinking violet.”

As Larabee continues broadening Akeelah’s understanding of the power of language, Akeelah’s overprotective mother (played to perfection by Angela Bassett) catches wind of her daughter’s extracurricular activities and forbids Akeelah’s participation. This subplot reminds me of a similar scenario in
Sister Act II when Lauryn Hill’s controlling mother prohibits her from singing. Fortunately, the story doesn’t get bogged down over this plot point but focuses more on the stimulating practice sessions and nail-biting competitions. Though much of the narrative is predictable up until the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the finale showcases some excellent acting and an unpredictable, wholly satisfying surprise ending.

In its broad strokes,
Akeelah reminds me of the similarly themed family film Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). Both movies feature a prodigious youth attempting to advance amid fierce competition, a tough yet caring tutor, a heart-stopping finale and a memorable supporting performance by some guy named Fishburne. The young phenoms in both movies also exhibit humility and good sportsmanship…refreshing qualities to see in young people even if they are merely projections on a screen.

Akeelah is the first movie co-produced by Starbuck’s Entertainment…yep, the coffee juggernaut isn’t satisfied with simply serving millions of lattes and getting filthy rich off of people’s hijacked taste buds. Now they must make movies too…so that people have something to do while drinking more of their product. Oh, I know a word for that: I-N-S-I-D-I-O-U-S.

Despite its dubious production company,
Akeelah is an inspirational movie for all ages and subtly drives home the importance of community, friendship and perseverance. Akeelah is a feel-good, follow-your-dreams film that manages to keep the schmaltz factor to a minimum while delivering a heartfelt message one carefully chosen word at a time. So, if you have a penchant for hearing preternatural preteens promulgating pulchritudinous profundities, Akeelah is the movie for you. Word!

Rating: 3