Review of Spellbound (2002) by Emily R — 10 Jul 2004

There's nothing really wrong with this documentary. I've seen it before at the East Lansing Film Festival last year (2003). I rented it again because I remember it being decent and I thought Jeff would like it.

He had pointed it out at the video store a number of times so I just sucked it up and got it. Let me tell you, it's better than what I can say. It is the story of eight contestants in the National Spelling Bee.

These eight contestants all have their own ways of preparing and all have different goals. Jeff's class-warrior instinct kicked in right away. Several of the contestants were quite well to do and had tutors in every language to help them 4 nights a week plus parents who were like drill-sargeants preparing their kids for a spelling bee.

Then, there were those who were down on the farm or inner-city kids with hopes of a better life. And then, there was Spazz. Spazz (I think Harry was his name) was this obviously ADD kid who had more energy in his tiny little body than anything I had ever seen.

This movie was so much like a Christopher Guest mock-umentary that it's almost scary. The obsession of some of these kids was amazing. Their parents were pretty scary too. Anyway, it's amusing, informative, and you really feel for the kids.

Emotions run high and laughter is abundant. Spazz really gets me...