Starring Lawrence Fishburne, Angela Bassett & Keke Palmer
Akeelah and the Bee is a touching, delightful film that showcases the skills of Lawrence Fishburne and Angela Bassett, plus we meet Keke Palmer as Akelaah. Palmer is a charming person to get to know; the movie is a great opportunity to spend some time with her.
Akeelah Anderson is an 11-year-old with a talent. She loves words. She's pulled into a school spelling bee, and is encouraged by her school principal to compete in a spelling bee leading up to a national championship. We get a look inside the curious world of kids and parents and lots and lots of words the kids have to memorize. It's a very competitive business, and one of the delights of the film is the innocence and charm that Akeelah lavishes on this endeavor.
Lawrence Fishburne is a professor on sabbatical who agrees to tutor Akeelah as she prepares to compete in a regional spelling bee. He doesn't have a huge amount of screen-time, but manages to fill it with a gentle, intelligent gravitas and authority that makes me wish I could have been a student of his.
Angela Bassett is outstanding as Akeelah's Mom, who works hard as a nurse while raising four children on her own. Her hard angry edge hides a warm and caring person.
This movie is a charmer, and is appropriate for all audiences. Four stars, two thumbs up, worth the price of admission.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment