Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee is a great inspirational family film about Akeelah (Keke Palmer) who is a middle school student who wants to compete in the Scipps National Spelling Bee, hence the Bee in the title. The movie deals with the struggles of many smart kids in urban schools where they don’t want to show that they’re smart because they fear ridicule by their peers. It also has the community rallying behind Akeelah to help her prepare for the Bee, while also highlighting the class differences between Akeelah and the kids she’ll be competing against.The movie begins with Akeelah getting an A on a spelling test in school, but not wanting anyone to know because she’s afraid what her classmates might say about her. This is the peer pressure she’s under to not show her smarts. She’s self-motivated and is inspired by her dead father who she talks to every night, but she needs to overcome her fears before she’s prepared to compete in the Bee.The story then focuses upon her preparing for the competition and all the people that help her. That ranges from Dr. Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) an English professor who becomes her coach to the locals in her community.Finally, there’s the class issue. As her school principal and brother tell Akeelah she will be competing with kids from affluent families from the rich neighborhoods and suburbs that have the money, time and a history of competing. Akeelah on the other hand lives in the inner city, goes to a poor school which she hates, her mother (Angela Bassett) is more concerned with her brother who gets in trouble all the time than Akeelah and who works all the time. The differences between her and her competition is emphasized when she joins a spelling club in a well to do community. That was actually a motivation for the film maker Doug Atchison who saw only affluent kids winning the Scripps competition.Overall, Akeelah And the Bee is a great family movie. It shows the struggles of a young African American girl attempting to do something that even she questioned she could do.

"Akeelah and the Bee" is a superb family movie about a young girl from humble circumstances competing against much wealthier children in spelling bee championship. Most kids movies put sports on a pedestal, this movie is different as it makes kids feel enthusiastic about intellectual pursuits. But just looking at those details would be selling this movie short. Most of all, this is a movie about the human spirit, resiliency and determination. It deals with loss, disappointment, hardship, the importance of finding your way, believing in yourself, focusing and working towards goals and the importance of friendship, family and teachers/mentors. It's a very well written and well acted film that is intelligent, sweet, funny, emotional and inspirational. My two young kids, my wife and I all loved this movie and it never lost either of my kids' -- 7 and 10 -- attention. I strongly recommend this for families with children 13 and under. In fact, it's so good, I recommend it even if you don't have kids.

This is without a doubt, one of THE best family and "feel good" movies of this era. It teaches both adults as well as children to search for the greatness that is within yourself and never allow anyone else to define who you are and who you aren’t. Great storyline, and as usual, Laurence Fishburne gives a wonderful depth and multi-faceted interest to his melancholy-character, UCLA English Professor Dr. Larabee; who mentors Akeelah and sees her to the Nationals. Angela Bassett delivers a very good performance too as Akeelah's Mother Tanya, a widow struggling to provide for her family and keep them safely “in-balance” despite living in a rough community. The huge Blessing you witness in this entire experience is that, in Akeelah’s quest to make it to the Nationals in DC, her entire Community comes together to help her study & properly prepare academically, as well as emotionally support her, in her pursuit of it.

Ms. Akeelah Anderson was an 11-year-old in the 7th grade, she skipped 2nd grade on merit, at the senescent, squalid Crenshaw Middle School in South Los Angeles. She hated school and was absent whenever she had more important matters to attend to, and she often didn't turn in assigned homework; however, she had never misspelled a word on the hebdomadal spelling test. She had a predilection for vocabulary and played Scrabble on her computer in her phrontistery, incessantly. At her school's inaugural spelling bee, she took 1st place, and she advanced to the Los Angeles District Spelling Bee with 139 contestants. She went up against affluent students from Santa Monica, Woodland Hills, and Beverly Hills. Woodland Hills had a kinship with the Scripps organization, because of the high proportion of aficionados they had sent there. Quite remarkably, she made it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship in Washington D.C. She could have easily slipped through the cracks with her potential and been forgotten if a teacher and principal hadn't taken a special interest in her future.

My teacher friends call this my magic movie. I have seen rural high school seniors entranced and city-7th graders entranced. A great movie with an amazing message to not be afraid of your own abilities even when it makes you different. Love the diversity and the acting is great. It really is a magic movie!

I purchased this movie to watch with a mixed grade level class of high school students in a public speaking class. This was a great choice! The movie demonstrates how being motivated can lead kids to achieve great things. Conversely, it also shows how the pressure to perform from parents and other adults can have negative consequences. This is a feel good movie with an upbeat message and is appropriate for all age levels. I do think the movie perpetuates racial stereotypes, though class discussion about how the film does this can be a teachable moment. Also, much of the plotline will seem quite predictable to adults, though my freshmen and sophomores really liked it. I would recommend this movie as a good film for the classroom and for people of all ages.

Though this film was made in America, the three main child characters are from ethnic backgrounds and echo situations that arise elsewhere, particularly in multicultural Britain (which is my neck of the woods). This would be an important film to be shown in some of the problem schools in cities where low self esteem in the pupils has resulted in bad behaviour and slipped standards. However, a viewing in private and all white schools would also help to improve their opinion of intelligene within the Black community. We should definitely be producing more films with this up-beat message.

Really love this sweet heartwarming movie. Huge fan of Angela Basset & Laurence Fishburne. Plays perfectly & arrived really fast.

I purchased this DVD as i had named my daughter Akeelah and wanted to see what this DVD was about. Akeelah in the film is shown in a positive light as well as the community that she lives in... i won't go into detail about the film as it will spoil it for you... overall nice film to watch with your children.

NO PROBLEMS

Very good move, I have watched it a few times