Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Memorable, crazy movie

Just what I expected

Good concept, poorly executed.

**WARNING A COUPLE OF SPOILERS**Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an eleven year old girl, who lives in South Los Angeles. She has a talent for spelling, and believes that she can make it to a National Spelling Bee. At 1st her mother (Angela Bassett) doesn't think it is a good idea for her daughter. Akeelah then finds a teacher named Dr. Larabee, (Laurence Fishburne), who coaches her, and believes she has what it takes to win the National Spelling Bee.This film does a fantastic job of entertaining, inspiring, and really tugging at your heartstrings. Every character in the film I could get behind, understand, and even relate too as well. Whether you feel sympathy, angered, or misunderstood about a character, this movie delivers great characters. For instance, Dr. Larabee's character was well done; I loved how he saw a little bit of his daughter in Akeelah. It made the 2 characters seem really connected, and it added to the film, by making him more emotionally attached to our main character. Dr. Larabee is more than just a life coach in the film. He teaches Akeelah strategy, positive thinking, overcoming the odds, and will power. I also found it interesting that Dr. Larabee's last name spells bee, and the movie plot focuses on the spelling bee.In addition, I loved how Akeelah had flashbacks to when her dad was alive, and how Akeelah would look at the picture of her father, and say things like "You would believe in me." It was a reflection on how her father is still with her in spirit and in conscience. One character I didn't like at first, was Dylan. The movie did a great job at making him seem cocky, and ruthless. Only because of his father; his father put pressure on him to win. Dylan's true nature shows at the end of the film. Even Dylan's father's character changed.So these are my final Bitchin' Buddha thoughts. No matter how old you are, you can enjoy this film. Everyone from 10 to 110, will have a great time. It's full of heart, great and relatable characters. I believe Akeelah and the Bee earns a ...9/10 !This review is brought to you by Boogie Buddha, and remember, don't just get down but get Boogie. Thank you for reading, and viewing, and I hope you have an amazing day as always. :)

If you had to choose between "Bee Season and "Akeelah and the bee" I strongly recommend Akeelah. The story can be kind of predictable but it was very fun for kids and some adults. There are some jokes which will make you laugh out loud while others will just leave a smile on your face.Laurence Fishburne portrays the role of Dr. Larabee, coach of Akeelah, and he just plays the role very good. The movie can get very exciting at times and it will have you jumping out of your seat shouting at people who can't spell.The only spelling movie that I think can beat Akeelah will have to be spellbound but they're both quite good.

As a libertarian who understands, more or less, the powerful causal factors that work from the outside to keep the down-and-outers down and out, it still does my heart good to recognize that any individual is capable of rising above his circumstances. In the case of Akeelah, the way out is through language. One sees very quickly that not only is the spelling competition mostly about language, the development of superior language skills is mostly about morality. If I had to pick another movie that exemplifies the truth of the previous sentence, it would be Hoop Dreams... also focused on poor black children trying to move ahead through special skills.In Hoop Dreams, more generally than in Akeelah and the Bee, you see how lack of English ability—particularly reading and writing, yet also as one's speech reflects the ability to think clearly—is the crucial determining reason for failure economically......For my complete review of this movie and for other movie and book reviews, please visit my site TheCoffeeCoaster.com.Brian Wright Copyright 2009

My first reaction to this movie when I heard of it was that it was just another of the now typical "underdog overcomes the odds" type of movie that's all too common today. I expected it, therefore, to be a decent movie (most of them are) but not really great. I was surprised. This movie really was superbly put together. It has an air of authenticity about it even though it's not based on reality, and I was absolutely blown away by young Keke Palmer, who played Akeelah perfectly. Akeelah is an 11 year old girl and spelling phenom who attends a rundown inner city school in South Los Angeles. Her principal recognizes her spelling prowess and convinces her to enter the competition leading to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Palmer truly was Akeelah. She was likable and drew me into the movie the way many more experienced actresses would never be able to do. Lawrence Fishburne was also quite good as Dr. Larabee, a former UCLA English professor who becomes Akeelah's coach. He wasn't as dominating as Palmer, but that was in keeping with the nature of his character - Larabee being a troubled man dealing with demons of his own. Kudos also to Angela Bassett for a good performance as Akeelah's mom.Although it was not stated, I assumed this was based at least loosely on a true story, and found out afterward that it wasn't. That was a bit of a letdown, but since the movie never claimed the contrary I have nothing to complain about, although that does leave me free to mention a couple of plot points that otherwise (had they been true) would have been acceptable. The first revolved around the character of Dylan. It seemed to me that the portrayal of his family (and especially his dad) was an overly stereotypical portrayal of the Chinese family insisting on perfection from their children, whether it made their children happy or not. The other (since this never happened) is the overly happy ending to the whole thing. The ending was just too perfect - life generally isn't. Overall, though, this really was a superb movie that held me tight from the very beginning. 9/10