L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / GZO | Posted: Sunday, August 27, 2006 7:00 pm
“Akeelah and the Bee” adds a bit of “My Fair Lady” and a touch of “Boyz N’ the Hood” to the dramatics found in the documentary “Spellbound,” then finds a striking, entirely believable young star to carry its irresistible, inspirational story.
While it might appear to be a knockoff of the Oscar-nominated 2002 spelling bee documentary, “Akeelah and the Bee” has been in development since 2000, when writer/director Doug Atchison won the Nichol Award for his screenplay.
At the center of the story is 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), a black spelling wiz who goes to school at Crenshaw Junior High in south central Los Angeles. Disillusioned by the school, which, in her words, can’t even afford to put doors on the bathroom stalls, Akeelah’s an underachiever, skipping classes and showing little interest in academics.
But she gets a chance to turn her young life around when principal Welch (Curtis Armstrong) forces her to compete in the school’s first spelling bee. She wins easily and then sees opportunity when she learns of the possibility of competing not only for the area championship, but for the state title and, with luck, a shot at the national bee in Washington, D.C.
To get there, Akeelah needs coaching. Enter Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), a UCLA professor and former national bee competitor who still lives in the neighborhood. A stickler for correct English — he admonishes Akeelah for “speaking ghetto” — he drills her in etymology, preparing her to compete with more affluent kids who have studied for the bee for their entire life.
Those competitors include the charming Javier (J.R. Villareal), with whom Akeelah has an age-appropriate flirtation, and the ultra-intense Dylan (Sean Michael Afable), who is pushed by his unrelenting father.
The parent in Akeelah’s life is Tanya (Angela Bassett), her hard-working, high-strung mother who is trying to raise her family after the death of her husband, and Akeelah’s beloved father.
While all of this sounds predictable and likely to turn into a made-for-TV kiddie soap opera, Atchison’s screenplay and the talented cast make it something much better than that.
Fishburne and Bassett, who played off each other in “What’s Love Got to Do With It” bring serious dramatic weight to the film, each of them playing characters who act with the best intentions, but whose lives are so burdened by death that they can’t fully move forward.
That drama allows Palmer to give a beautiful performance, a young girl playing a young girl with total believability. Gawky, flirty, charming, temperamental, determined and dejected, Palmer covers the range of tween emotion and is never less than convincing. Plus she’s one of those kids that the camera just loves.
So when Akeelah’s challenging Dr. Larabee’s mentoring, “My Fair Lady” can’t help but come to mind. As Atchison and cinematographer M. David Mullen show the contrast between South Central and the suburbs and Akeelah gets pounded by gangsta girls in school, the reference becomes “Boyz N’ the Hood.”
Once the competition kicks in, whether it’s the first bee in a school classroom, a heated Scrabble game with Dylan at a birthday party or the national finals, “Akeelah and the Bee” takes on the drama and some of the realism of “Spellbound.”
It would be nice to think that “Akeelah and the Bee” would inspire some of its younger viewers to pay more attention to school work or maybe become spellers themselves, but that’s too much to expect from a movie.
With its insightful look at Akeelah’s life, its multiracial cast and its uplifting, surprisingly compelling story, it can’t help but be inspirational on a more subtle level.
“Akeelah and the Bee” says that we all can succeed through perseverance, discipline and talent, and Palmer provides a perfect portrayal of how that can happen.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
Akeelah and the Bee
***1/2
Director: Doug Atchison
Stars: Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable
Rated: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes
Now Showing: Grand, East Park
The Reel Story: This inspirational story of an 11-year-old black girl from South Central competing in a spelling bee features a great performance from young Palmer as the lead character.