Bee Season (2005)

42% of critics liked it
(104 reviews)
36% of users liked it
(12,135 ratings)

Adapted from the novel by Myla Goldberg, Bee Season tells the story of a family whose turmoil is brought to the surface by a young girl's unexpected talent. Eleven-year-old Eliza (Flora Cross) is the invisible element of her family unit -- her mother and father (played by Juliette Binoche and… More Adapted from the novel by Myla Goldberg, Bee Season tells the story of a family whose turmoil is brought to the surface by a young girl's unexpected talent. Eleven-year-old Eliza (Flora Cross) is the invisible element of her family unit -- her mother and father (played by Juliette Binoche and Richard Gere) are both consumed with work and busy avoiding their faltering marriage. Her brother, praised for musical genius, is wrapped up in his own adolescent life. Eliza ignites not only a spark that makes her visible but one that sets into motion a revolution in her family dynamic when she wins a spelling bee. Finding an emotional outlet in the power of words and in the spiritual mysticism that he sees at work in her unparalleled gift, Eliza's father pours all of his energy into helping his daughter become spelling bee champion, further distancing himself from his wife and son. A religious studies professor, he sees the opportunity as not only a distraction from his life but as an answer to his own crisis of faith. His vicarious path to God, real or imagined, leads to an obsession with Eliza's success and he begins teaching her secrets of the Kabbalah. Now preparing for the National Spelling Bee, and with her family spreading further and further into four separate directions, Eliza looks on as a new secret of her family's hidden turmoil seems to be revealed with each new word she spells. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Nov 11, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Apr 4, 2006
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
[A] pretentious family-in-crisis drama ...
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Fine directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (The Deep End) take a detour into mumbo jumbo.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
There's no shortage of material on the screen in Bee Season -- it's just not assembled in a satisfying manner.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bee Season is earnest and heartfelt and respectful. And a botch.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Co-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel, whose visual schemes lent a hypnotic aura to their previous collaborations ... don't find the right balance of story and image this time.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
The film succeeds, because both the tale and the young performers (Cross and Max Minghella as Eliza's teenage brother, Aaron) are so compelling.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Spelling bees and family drama intertwine. Not meant for kids.
Camerin Courtney, Christianity Today
Words and letters may hold all the secrets of the universe, but 104 minutes wasn't enough to hold and resolve all the secrets and mysteries of Bee Season.
Todd Jorgenson, Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
Perhaps the film's disparate subplots are given due attention in the book, but it all feels unfocused and jammed together here.
Joe Utichi, FilmFocus
A well-told, enjoyable and insightful film, but its not necessarily as revelatory as its makers seem to think.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Os dez minutos finais de projeção parecem pertencer a um outro filme. Bem ruim, por sinal.

Read all 11 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Wahida K

Family isn't just about talking. It's about understanding.
Jennifer X

had a lot of potential but blew it.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Bee Season", 11 year-old Eliza(Flora Cross) has just won her school spelling bee and against older kids, too. Her father, Saul(Richard Gere), is a religion professor at Berkeley who is especially interested in the Kabbalah. He takes an… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Bee Season", 11 year-old Eliza(Flora Cross) has just won her school spelling bee and against older kids, too. Her father, Saul(Richard Gere), is a religion professor at Berkeley who is especially interested in the Kabbalah. He takes an extraordinary interest in her contests in an attempt to connect it back to his own studies, thus leaving her older brother, Aaron(Max Minghella), feeling a little left out in the cold. Eliza's mother, Miriam(Juliette Binoche), is a biologist who has issues of her own.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Bee Season" is an intelligent movie about people looking for answers in the world around them.(Since I don't think there are any answers, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.) Saul is looking for them in religion while Miriam looks in science. And Miriam is still looking for answers concerning her parents' death. It is a sports movie(if ESPN televises it, then it's a sport) that is positively brimming with ideas. And I liked the imaginative visualizations illustrating how Eliza thinks out the spelling of the words.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Note 1: Scott McGehee and David Siegel also co-directed "Suture" and "The Deep End" which are also both recommended. Both movies are referenced here. Suture is one of the words in an early spelling bee. There is a Lake Tahoe bumper sticker on the refrigerator in the house. Lake Tahoe was the setting for "The Deep End."[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Note 2: With the exception of a rerelease of "Days of Heaven" a few years back, I think this is the first time I have seen a movie featuring Richard Gere in a theatre.[/font]
William G

Seldom do films manage to be so self-satisfied, so overwhelmingly pretentious, and so very dull. D-U-L-L.
Sunil J

I liked it but the book was better.