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Film: Akeelah and the Bee [PG] 112 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.25
Where Viewed: AMC Theatres Pacific Place 11, Seattle, WA
When 1st Seen: 28 April 2006
Time: 5:30 p.m.
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DVD | soundtrack |
In Akeelah and the Bee, Writer / director Doug Atchison has put together a David-slew-Goliath story with middle schooler Akeelah (Keke “Madea’s Family Reunion” Palmer) Anderson overcoming nemeses both miniscule and onerous including on the slighter side--her overworked, over-stressed single parent mother’s (Angela Bassett) deficient appreciation of her appetence for spelling bees; bigger--the guileful super speller Dylan (Sean Michael) Chou whose father seemingly will cease at nothing to propel him to a national championship; and the biggest--her south central Los Angeles middle school itself with its dearth of relevant curricula and supportive facilities due to derisory funding; to go on to contend for the championship at the National Spelling Bee. Guiding her on her conduit to pre-eminence, she has a virtuoso coach in that of former UCLA English Dept. Chair, Dr. Joshua (Laurence “One of the most illustrious movie mentors of all time—just ask Neo” Fishburne) Larabee and a keen, while self-serving, devotee, in her middle school principal, Mr. Welch (Curtis “Miles from Risky Business” Armstrong). In the process of her coaching, Akeelah proves to give as much as she receives when she assists the still-mournful Dr. Larabee in locating solace and comfort in his life—a life that had given him little to care about due to the death of someone quite close to him during the past few years. She also has a few very good and motivational friends notably Javier (J. R. Villarreal) who takes her under his wing when she attempts her first real spelling bee and Georgia (Sahara Garey) her best friend who aspires to be a flight attendant some day. Along her journey from brainiac nerd girl to local media sensation and darling hopeful of the national spelling bee prognosticators, she inspires a lot of change in those around her exemplifying exactly the kinds of good things we would hope for in a young person today. Moreover, she works exceptionally hard for her successes, and the film details this. Dr. Larabee, for example, just weeks before the national spelling bee and after months of other forms of preparation, gives her 5,000 flashcards of the hardest words she has ever attempted to memorize. The entire town comes out to help her in this task.
The main plot points of climax of the film were fairly predictable, until the very end where there is an outcome that spoils the predictability notion and opens new ground in a fashion that seems almost un-American. [I cannot say more without ruining the ending.] Just taken at face value, Akeelah and the Bee is very good, emotionally uplifting, kid-centered film that will lift the spirits and warm the heart with a bright young star in Keke Palmer who is absolutely splendid as Akeelah. She is fresh, real, and just perfect. My only qualms with the film, and I had two, were first that the film is not just a little predictable it is very predictable. And, that’s ok if you don’t mind a little predictability. 5,000 Roadrunner cartoons, and the coyote never wins—not once. Still funny? Absolutely. So, that’s a minor qualm. Yet, second, the bigger issues pop up in the realms of prejudice and social justice. Some examples:
(1) Why is Akeelah’s middle brother hanging with a rough ‘gang-banger-like’ crowd?
(2) Why is Akeelah’s middle school poverty stricken?
(3) Why is Dylan Chou portrayed as an Asian student who is really smart in school and then used as a foil to Akeelah (African American) Javier (Hispanic)?
(4) Why is Akeelah, the only African American kid in the brain trust of her friends, and also the only kid whose father was murdered on the way home from work?
While each of these things increase the struggle for Akeelah which makes for the perception of a better story, the reliance upon stereotypes as sources for these struggles, has to be challenged lest they be simply taken for granted. Akeelah’s story shouldn’t be relevant because of the roadblocks she overcame; it should be relevant because of the greatness she can claim. Her hard work, perseverance, learning to deal with her fears, insatiable curiosity, excelling in a non-traditional (meaning most people aren’t very good at spelling) area; all of these are reasons to celebrate the pulchritude of her story, not simply because of any ‘odds’ she overcame.
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Akeelah And The Bee (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2006) DVD
Akeelah And The Bee [DVD](2006) DVD
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