Angela Bassett, Jeff Marlow, Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Sara Niemietz ...( see more  see more... ) , Curtis Armstrong , Julito McCullum

Akeelah Anderson is a precocious 11-year-old girl from south Los Angeles with a gift for words. Despite the objections of her mother Tanya, Akeelah enters various spelling contests, for which she is t...( read more  read more... )utored by the forthright Dr. Larabee; her principal Mr. Welch and the proud residents of her neighborhood. Akeelah's aptitude earns her an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in turn unites her neighbors who witness the courage and inspiration of one amazing little girl.

Flixster Users

74% liked it

79,161 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

131 critics

PG, 1 hr. 52 min.

Directed by: Doug Atchison

Release Date: April 28, 2006

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DVD Release Date: August 29, 2006

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Stats: 3,785 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,785)


  • August 17, 2009
    like the karate kid but with spelling...
  • July 6, 2009
    Akeelah And The Bee is the story of a very smart 11 year old girl from South Los Angeles, and her journey to the Script's National Spelling Bee.
    The story was predictable, but that is what I expected from this type of story. Maybe it was my inner nerd shinning through, while I w...( read more)as watching it.What can I say, I have been known to sit and watch The Script's National Bee on ESPN, and few can beat me at Scrabble. So, I really enjoyed this movie.
    I have always been an Angela Bassett fan. She is a phenomenal actress. Keke Palmer did a wonderful job playing Akeelah in this film. It was nice to see "Booger" Curtis Armstrong all grown up, playing the principle. Not many films can you say..." Damn that Laurence Fishburn for making me cry."
    Akeelah And The Bee is a good family film. There is something to enjoy for all ages.
  • June 13, 2009
    I have never enjoyed a PG-rated film like I have this one. This may be classified as a "kid's film" but I disagree. It's such a great and inspiring film. I have never been that excited in a movie since I watched Seabiscuit. Keke Palmer does a terrific job, especially for her bein...( read more)g so young. She is the movie. I was also happy to see Fishburne and Bassett reunite for the third time in this film. They are always wonderful, but are better when in the same scenes for most of the movie. I recommend this movie to everyone because it truly is inspiring, especially if you come from a lower-class, low-income family like Akeelah. She is a strong girl and it shows in the movie. She has great integrity and the most powerful scene is when she reads the quote off of Fishburne's office wall. "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure."
  • March 19, 2009
    It follows a formulaic plot structure, but I really liked how it explored the cultural and social divisions amongst classes in Los Angeles.
  • July 14, 2008
    Dr. Larabee: "Where do you think big words come from?
    Akeelah: People with big brains?"

    11-year old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) has a gift for words. It's probably genetic: her dad (who was shot to death when she was a little girl) played scrabble, probably with...( read more) expertise. Ever since her dad's death, she, and her two brothers, have been kept alive by her overworking mother (Angela Bassett). The gift for words isn't exactly a blessing to Akeelah. She usually gets A's in her spelling tests; A's she would quickly hide out of embarrassment. Crenshaw, her South L.A. public school, isn't really the school where you can brag your intellectual achievements. Mediocrity pervade the educational system; bullies would terrorize those who achieve or mock at any notion that someone is excelling in something.

    Photobucket

    Akeelah and the Bee is the story of Akeelah's journey from being the closet gifted speller to the champion of the Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.. The story isn't exactly original. You've seen it before, in many different shapes. The Sister Act films showed unlikely chorale singers succeed to impress non-believers. Director Ron Howard has a few of these films under his belt (most of which would win numerous awards): A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man. Like all the cited films, Akeelah would have to face all the adversities (her lower middle-class neighbourhood, her bullies, her rapper-wannabe brother, the Korean-American rival) in her life to reach her goals.

    Of course, she doesn't do it alone. She gets help from university professor Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) who is also hiding a painful tragedy in his life. In one of the spelling bee competitions, she meets Javier (J. R. Villareal), overly friendly spelling bee competitor and Latino lover-in-the-making. It's all very formulaic which might be the reason why it's also quite harmless as opposed to the other fictional spelling bee films released after the hit doc Spellbound (Jeffrey Blitz, 2002). Akeelah and the Bee seems very safe and trite in comparison.

    Everything falls into place. Director Doug Atchison knows his material is Hallmark-quality fluff and directs it as such. The film looks satisfyingly polished. There's an abundance of generic preachiness; the film quotes a lot from Mandela and Dr. Larabee seems persistent on incorporating greatness in the simplicity of spelling and word deconstruction. It all feels very fuzzy and nice. The niceness is upped by Keke Palmer's surprisingly good performance (if a little girl upstages Fishburne and Bassett, you do know she's special or that the screenplay has been unfairly underwritten for the supporting cast).

    Overall, Akeelah and the Bee is embarrassingly cute - spelling bees, little kids stealing kisses from little girls, whole neighbourhoods (the gang-banger neighbourhood, at that) rallying behind the unlikely champion. Atchison seems to want something deeper from the entire bee business, but his sugar-coated confection can barely rise beyond its genre to say anything out of the ordinary. Still very much worthy.
  • January 12, 2010
    This film for me was average its nothing to great much I still found it hard to give it 2 stars or below.This film doesn't deliver the storyline that well and din't turn out aswell as I wanted it too.The good thing though about this was it still delivered emotional and happiness ...( read more)for the viewers.This forces the viewers to enjoy it eventhough they don't deliver well with the story.The reason it forces the viewers to enjoy this is all the emotional and happiness experience.If you saw this at the cinemas you probably had about the best time because with all the emotional experience.If you are talking about quality or storyline then story but this film doesn't deliver well.If you are looking for a storyline that is entertaining and will give you a g ood experience then this is the wrong film for you really.If you are looking for a fun film that will give you plenty of happiness and emotional then this will be for you.
    Alot of audience will find it hard to love this film because the storyline is poor and a bit predictable in parts but its hard to dislike this film because of all the happy and emotional experience.
    Overall this isn't bad but nothing good or special either but you may want to check this one out for yourself.
  • December 29, 2009
    I like this film. :] so great! It's really really nice..
    mgnda ung message,I mean,ung thought nung story.. :] naka2-inspire rn ung super galing na spelling genius d2!--cla Akeelah Anderson..& c Dylan Chiu rn,syempre!;] & c Javier,ung 12year-old mexican-American boy na naging frie...( read more)nd nya..ambaet!:]
    ang galing nla mag spell! oww..wow!:] ang gnda tlg nitong film n 'tO..
    I'm amazed!! sobra..
    ang galing ng story..naka2-inspire n nka2-excite..tpos ang cute pa ni **Dylan Chiu**...a Chinese-American boy who had won second place at the past two national spelling bees.
    watch it..ang nice! :] cute!
  • December 19, 2009
    One of purest movies to come out in the last decade and one of the best original stories to be produced lately. Director Dough Atchison and youngster Keke Palmer give us something to treasure...IF...you are in the mood for it. It is a massive feel-good movie. Just be warned that ...( read more)it will make you smile. And Booker from Revenge of the Nerds is a principal!!!!
  • December 17, 2009
    It was good but not anything spectacular. I guess that's to be expected of a movie about a spelling bee though.
  • December 12, 2009
    An excellent family movie, it had a great plot and brilliant acting, and it was so emotional. it is definitly the best movie about the African-American community, no guns, no drugs and no pimps.

Critic Reviews


April 28, 2006
Claudia Puig, USA Today

... it's easy to overlook that contrivance, because the movie's heart is so clearly in the right place. full review

April 28, 2006
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Keke Palmer, who's been working in television and movies for the past few years, is a natural on screen. full review

April 28, 2006
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Akeelah and the Bee is so warm and well-meaning that you may find yourself wanting to like it more than you really do. full review

April 28, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The story of Akeelah's ascent to the finals of the National Spelling Bee makes an uncommonly good movie, entertaining and actually inspirational, and with a few tears along the way. full review

April 27, 2006
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

An old-fashioned but thoroughly good-hearted tale of academics, achievement and uplift ... full review

April 21, 2006
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

A sentimental attempt to piggyback on the continued popularity of Spellbound. full review

View more Akeelah and the Bee reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • aszand58
    January 19, 2008
    who is the actor that played the boy she hung out with? the one she kissed on the cheek? he did such a good job...
  • mzririyouknow
    November 17, 2007
    this movie is soooooo touching
  • rayman0071
    March 19, 2007
    This was one of the best films of 2006 and righteously so. I'm surprised that it wasn't even Oscar nominated since Keke Palmer was brilliant in this picture. This was a movie that showed African-American children in a positive light and also showed them being in a exceptionally good atmosphere when it came to learning and dealing with other things.
    "Akeelah And The Bee" gave us the goods here and then some in one of the best films to grace the screen in years. Kudos to Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett for making it happen. Not to mention a rare cameo appearance by Samuel L. Jackson too. A film that was highly praised by parents,teachers,and children and was highly recommended by the National Education Association and several groups including the NAACP and other organizations.
  • paulysha
    December 30, 2006
    cant get enough of this movie! u go keke! and maybe tell javier that u prbably cant hav a bf at the moment!
  • ybovn
    December 19, 2006
    oh i love this movie its really good !!!!
  • crazyboy11
    October 4, 2006
    ooooooooooooooooh I love this movie funny and real funny movie..........nice movie....*
  • thebeautyeyesvera
    September 29, 2006
    ohhhhh I love this movie real funny movies lol we make me happy haha
  • abbx
    August 27, 2006
    real funny movie lol
  • elkeomar
    July 15, 2006
    okay
  • wlmykk
    June 23, 2006
    good for kids and kids who is good at spelling! (like me)

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Akeelah and the Bee Trivia


  • Which movie has this tagline : " Changing the world... one word at a time "  Answer »
  • What moie did a 11 year old girl make it to a National Speeling Bee??  Answer »
  • In the movie "Akeelah and the Bee", did Akeelah win the National Spelling Bee?  Answer »
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