Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee (Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong) — There is everything to like in this predictable, but heartwarming, story of a spelling whiz who would like nothing more than to be anonymous is her inner city middle school.  But emboldened by the memories of her deceased father, she is eventually lured into competing in spelling bees locally and (then) nationally by a principal (Armstrong) who puts the heart back in inner city education.  Producer Fishburne stars in his own movie as a former UCLA English Department head who hides his own emotional tragedy while being prodded and drawn to the spelling prodigy.  The story might be well-worn, but it doesn’t wear thin.  The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the goal, and the stress of the Bee is beautifully captured.  The casting of the kids is dead-on.  And if weren’t for the usually overblown performance by Angela Bassett as Akeelah’s mother, this low-budget film would be worth its plaudits, however you spell it.

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