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Back Shelf Beauties
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Akeelah and The Bee It seems like we have had many feel good movies released in the past few weeks, with more to come, but Akeelah and The Bee is the best, especially if you want to avoid bad comedy, stupid horror movies and a certain sexually charged bomb. Keke Palmer stars as Akeelah - an 11-year old school girl in Compton (that's one of the roughest parts of Los Angeles) who religiously studies words in honor of her deceased father, who instilled in her a love for language and Scrabble. While she's a bright kid, sometimes, Akeelah is bored with schoolwork or tries to hide her intelligence to avoid being harassed by bullies. Her teacher forces the young lady to participate in the school's spelling bee, while Principal Welch (Curtis "Booger" Armstrong) invites an old college buddy, Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), to entice him to train Akeelah for the regional spelling bee, hoping she can go as far as the national championships in Washington, DC. Before you know it, Akeelah quickly is rising through the competition, and wants to win so bad she can taste it, but her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), is not as supportive as Akeelah wants. Does Akeelah have what it takes to defeat the better-trained students she will face as she goes up the ladder? Will her family and friends approve of this new obsession? For the most part, Akeelah and The Bee is a traditional, heartwarming feel good story about an underdog trying to overcome the odds and achieve fantastic victory, while also winning over an entire community inspired by her bravery. Yep, that sounds pretty good to me, too. Writer/director Doug Atchison deserves most of his praise for showing us the complete story. We have the traditional scenes of a the young student learning from her mentor, sometimes through non-traditional methods, but Atchison also shows us the impact of Akeelah's new life on her family, on her friendships and on her community. The last part of that might be the best part of Atchison's script as he shows Akeelah, and the audience, that you can't always do it by yourself. Also, he shows us how Akeelah's life changes for the better because of dedication to education, and all of the doors it can open. Additionally, he makes a spelling bee as exciting as the Super Bowl with great editing and wonderful backgrounds for each character, so we get wrapped up in the competition, who might win, and what it means to them. Atchison also has a good cast at his disposal. Palmer and Fishburne have fantastic chemistry together, taking advantage of each one's acting ability. Palmer shows maturity and talent beyond her years to create a character much like a real child complete with good times, attitude, sass, and the sadness of disappointment and tragedy. She's not just some generic angel of a kid. Palmer gives Akeelah a unique personality. Fishburne is pretty good, too. He excels as the sage and proud teacher trying to do more for Akeelah than teach her some new words. Fishburne fills the character with a fatherly love and concern for the young lady, and wins us over as we learn more about Dr. Larabee's past. Much like Palmer with Akeelah, Fishburne adds depth and complexity to Larabee, which makes us watch him more closely. Akeelah and The Bee has only one problem. Since it's set in LA, Atchison seems to believe it needs to be like Crash, complete with some instances of hateful speech that run contrary to the movie's themes of teamwork, cooperation and love. Those moments in the script are for another movie, not this one. Some might think those moments keep it real, but they don't fit in with the overall tone of this movie. Akeelah and The Bee is great for kids 10 and up, and their parents. 3 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2006 - WaffleMovies.com
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