Review of Akeelah and the Bee (2006) by Geoffrey K — 01 Sep 2009

A simple but great tale of overcoming against the odds, this film charts 11 year old Akeelah's journey to the US national spelling bee - and the impact her success has on her wider (ghetto) community. A surprisingly well-crafted and amiable family movie - with a good plot development and characterisation but few real surprises.

A film reuniting Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne deserves far more fanfare than this film has been given. Given that it's also excellent, I'm surprised it's so far under the radar. A feel-good film technically (you'd need a heart of stone not to be moved), but if a film about a kid's spelling test can have me on the edge of my seat and cheering like it's the Olympics, and has legendary actors sharing the screen, it must contain more than a little magic. Insightful, exciting and entertaining and Keke Palmer is definitely one to watch - one for the family archives.