Akeelah and the Bee (Widescreen Edition)
by Doug Atchison
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DVD details
Actor: Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal, Keke Palmer, Laurence FishburneDirector: Doug Atchison
Brand: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Cinematographer: M. David Mullen
Editor: Glenn Farr
Producer: Michael Burns
Producer: Marc Butan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
Published: 2006-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-29
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Lionsgate
DVD Reviews of Akeelah and the Bee (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: It's Often The "Small" Films That Pack The Most Punch!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have come across a number of gems in "small" movies that tend to have the most impact. These are movies that seem to be overlooked at the box office by movie-goers. Perhaps there is a fear that they are too corny, sentimental, or just plain boring. However, many of these films are anything but.
Akeelah and the Bee dares Americans to face a glaring paradox: Everyone is a winner. Yes, we preach this and we try to teach this. This film actually makes this concept work. In a society that thrives (many times too much) on competition, we often forget that people have feelings. How often is it the kids who need to remind us of that fact. For example, in the Little League World Series, you often see many acts of sportsmanship.
Akeelah and the Bee is about a young African-American girl who lives in south central Los Angeles. She lives with her mother who works as nurse and struggles just to make ends meet. Akeelah discovers that she has a love for words, and spends hours looking through the dictionary to not only be able to spell the word, but also understand what the word means.
This is a hobby that she keeps to herself. She doesn't want her classmates to get wind of the fact that she just might like something academic at school. However, when her English teacher notices that Akeelah does exceptionally well on her spelling tests, the teacher immediately attempts to get Akeelah to participate in the school spelling bee. Reluctantly, she agrees.
As briliant as Akeelah is with words, she still needs a lot of work and help. Enter her "spelling coach," Dr. Larabee (played magnificently by Laurence Fishburne who was also a producer for the film). Dr. Larabee also has a love of words, but he has to encourage Akeelah to study the origins of the different words, and perhaps even more importantly, he helps to instill a confidence and a sense of self-worth in Akeelah. One of the first steps is that Larabee will not allow Akeelah to speak ghetto-talk. "You will speak intelligently," he says. It is a bit of a mystery at first as to why Larabee wants to coach Akeelah as it is apparent that there is something else going on. There is a touching reason that I will not disclose here.
Angela Bassett plays Akeelah's mother. And her performance, as in so many of her films, she does a great job. She plays a hard mother but a caring one. She is so busy with work, that it comes as a surprise to her when she finds out about Akeelah's talent.
Another surprising performance is given by Curtis Armstrong as Akeelah's principal. Armstrong has done mostly comedic roles, such as the infamous "Booger" in "Revenge of the Nerds." I was slightly apprehensive at first, but he also turns in a very credible job. He plays a very supportive school principal. After seeing this role, you might wonder why we don't have more "supportive" principals in our schools.
Of course, I can't mention performances without mentioning Laurence Fishburne. He is still one of my favorite actors. He is so brilliant at embodying the sage-like man who has an unswerving, and yet quiet wisdom. My two favorite roles of his are Morpheus from the "Matrix," and Furious Styles from "Boyz and the Hood." His performance here in this film is no less inspiring and thought-provoking.
At last, I have to talk about newcomer, Keke Palmer (Akeelah). This amazing, young actress turns in a great performance as the young spelling, whiz kid. While she plays Akeelah with a young, impressionable sweetness, she is also able to tap into the brewing teenage arrogance that is starting to come out. Akeelah has got some attitude, but Palmer is careful to not let that overshadow the softness and kindness of Akeelah.
This film may seem a bit formulaic, but I assure you, it has a surprise at the end that I would bet few people see coming. This is a film that will have you feeling good no matter how many times you've seen it. It has that kind of power that very few films are able to capture. These kinds of movies are called "gems" because very few of them seem to come along. I truly wish that there were more films like this out there. It demonstrates that movies can be so effective in inspiring and educating, but few movies are made to do this. Anyway, you can't possibly go wrong with this film which is easily watchable fo the entire family.
Description of Akeelah and the Bee (Widescreen Edition)
An inspirational drama, Akeelah and the Bee is the story of Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), a precocious eleven-year-old girl from south Los Angeles with a gift for words. Despite the objections of her mother Tanya (Angela Bassett), Akeelah enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne); her principal Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong) and the proud residents of her neighborhood. Akeelah?s aptitude earns her an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in turn unites her neighborhood who witness the courage and inspiration of one amazing little girl.Bestsellers in DVD
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