Review of Spellbound (2002) by C.j. A — 25 Mar 2008

The visual style might be uninspired (Brown-tinted squares? Really?), but this DV-doc is exuberantly paced and appropriately curious in its quest to figure out the hoopla behind all this spelling bee madness.

Here, we have eight portraits of varied parent-children relationships, all caught in the swarm of a subculture that the film defines as a purely American phenomenon. While the lack of spite is refreshing (in more cynical hands, the parents could have easily been degenerated into creepy stage-mom types), there's a whiff of a missed opportunity for further insight beyond the 'America's pretty cool, isn't it?' thesis.