Someone rightly said “WHEN DETERMINATION OVERCOMES FATE, HONOUR COMES CALLING.” Akeelah and the bee is a classic example of this notion, this is one of those movies which captures the determination of a rather simple girl whose life was shattered due to cataclysmic turn of events in her personal life.In the movie the main protagonist Akeelah Anderson lost her father in a tragic accident shown off-camera, she was forced to live her life in a tough surrounding and educate herself in an underfunded school. The 12-year old turns to spelling as symbol of honour to his father who also was a logophile like her.
Akeelah had a history of poor attendance problem but at the same time she had a good convention of having every spelling correct in her tests which encouraged her teacher Ms Cross and principal Mr Welch to persuade her to take her proclivity towards word to next level by participate in the regional spelling bee. Akeelah first resisted the idea as this would tag her as a nerd and would quickly get her cold-shouldered among her friends. But as it is said – your choices decides your destiny,” she finally agreed to participate in the spelling bee contest and went on to win the hearts of every person present during the regionals especially one named Dr Larabee , a former spelling-champ turned professor.
Akeelah sooner or later understood the need of professional training and turned to Dr Larabee for assistance. But both of them soon found themselves on the wrong sides of the garden, Akeelah believed in memorizing words with the help of her unorthodox tapping with hands while Dr. Larabee strongly believed in understanding the roots. But her journey towards Scripps National Spelling Bee was destined on a thorny path, her mother was initially apprehensive of her participation in the Bee but eventually her determination made her mother start honouring her dreams. Rather the whole community around her made her dream theirs.
Akeelah found in Javier a trustworthy friend who was always beside her in daunting times. The film also captures the idea of how spelling bee is not only about emotions of participants but also of their parents who have this “ If I could not you have to “ notion of their own failure in the Bee, Dylan’s ascetic father had only one aim in his life to see his son Dylan win Scripps National Bee. But the relationship that Dylan and Akeelah develops is not only heart-touching but also shows how magnanimous her character was, who was ready to intentionally give her dreams so that his father’s wishes comes true. But at the end it beatifically depicted both of them as joint-winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Ironically, it was the performances of the adult stars that was upsetting , particularly Mr Fishburne and Angella Basett who plays Akeelah’s widowed mother. Obviously, the big-name draws for the film, both actors fell into some bad habits at first. Mr. Fishburne seemed to be channeling Morpheus, intoning in his infamous baritone, “she could be the one” (or something like that). And Ms Bassett – who is always a fierce, vital presence – initially chews the scenery around her fellow actors, rarely making a connection with them or reality. Both actors, though, come around later in the film, particularly Mr. Fishburne, whose Dr. Larabee proves a fitting Mr. Miyagi to Akeelah’s Karate Kid. For writer-director Doug Atchison, this was clearly a labor of love. He could have sold the script and had someone else direct the film, but spent years instead raising the money to direct the film himself. Fishburne is also listed as a producer of this film. Everyone involved believed in this film and it shows.
But the real heart of the film is 13 year-old Keke Palmer, who plays Akeelah. From the very start of the film, Ms. Palmer projects a genuine warmth that never flags throughout the film. Already an actress with quite a resume behind her, Ms Palmer is the real deal – a child actress with an understanding beyond her years.
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