IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

brandon_lee420 If you had to choose between "Bee Season and "Akeelah and the bee" I strongly recommend Akeelah. The story can be kind of predictable but it was very fun for kids and some adults. There are some jokes which will make you laugh out loud while others will just leave a smile on your face.Laurence Fishburne portrays the role of Dr. Larabee, coach of Akeelah, and he just plays the role very good. The movie can get very exciting at times and it will have you jumping out of your seat shouting at people who can't spell.The only spelling movie that I think can beat Akeelah will have to be spellbound but they're both quite good.

fenghanshi I am Chinese who also study English a basically course in China, many years ago I already known from the Locak TV News report there is such a wonderful competition named "National Bee" which happened in US each year, but only got a few of pictures. Today there is the trailer played in Chinese national movie channel which name is "Akeelah and the Bee". I quickly search it online, and watch this movie immediately, what I found in this movie is deeply moved me, I love that black girls, no matter who is the winner in the end, I think almost every bee will do the same difficulties when they prepare the competition, I don't think there is any shortcut to success, but a good method is needed, I really don't want to say any more good for this movie, anyway it is a old movie 3 year ago. But what i thinking about is US, a new country, where the language is from another country-British, but make English as a beautiful art, to enjoy it, to make is more beautiful from children's, not a tool only. This make think about my country-China, which the language names Chinese, a longer history, a complex language system. But no one can dig it deeply, or make such a good competition on TV or stage, I feel shamed about now the Youngers cannot read Chinese clearly, and many many different local languages, and even someone can not write clearly their own native language. Anyway, I love this movie, maybe i wrote a lot of things that without this movie, but it really from my heart, sorry for my English is poor,hey hey

Dragoneyed363 At first glance, I was put off by Akeelah and the Bee. It's just that a movie about competitive spelling did not seem to appeal to me, and I really did not care about seeing it, ever. I did not know anyone in the cast either and never heard much about it from others. After my friend, who also thought it would not be that great, watched it and told me they absolutely loved it, I thought about giving it a try. Let me tell you all in my honest opinion, it is not a film you should disregard or think about disregarding so quickly, and it is now one of my favorite movies of all time.The movie is just so wonderfully put together; I adore it. The characters and plot have a nice flow and real feel to them that make the watcher comfortable with everything that happens or where I could even relate to it in some way. It starts off with Akeelah, a young African American girl from Los Angeles, who is shy and unsure of herself around her community. She progresses into having a relationship with her tutor, Dr. Larabee, and grows to become more confident in herself as she practices for the National Spelling Bee.I just could not stop cheering for Keke Palmer's character throughout this movie. She's witty, sassy and lovable in all her charms, and Keke Palmer gives an incredible performance. The rest of the cast are superb, and the movie, like I said, has a nice pace and throws in a lot of twists and subtleties, especially making the viewer feel the sense the writer and director is wanting you to feel strongly, such as melancholiness or joyousness. There is a lot of fun involved in this movie when it comes down to it, no matter how serious it takes itself at times, which everything just works out for the better in terms of how the movie is handled.

blaircam OK, let me say right off the bat that I really enjoyed the movie. It was a lovely story and well told BUT it is incredibly predictable and clichéd. It really feels like a Hallmark special or a midday movie, made for TV type film. It is somewhat reminiscent of Spellbound and has some of the charm but although it makes you feel like it may be based on a true story it just doesn't quite ring true. The clichés - 1. the poor, working class, unappreciated but intelligent minority girl who triumphs over all odds, 2. the hard-working tough-exterior single mum who wants Akeelah to get her head out of the clouds but is eventually won over 3. The brother getting into trouble hooking up with the wrong crowd 4. the brilliant but irascible professorial type who is carrying his own baggage but learns to come to grips with his challenges through the medium of the bright young courageous heroine 5. the cold, heartless driven Asian types who must win at all costs (BTW - a bit racist that) Is there room to squeeze in just one more cliché...??? Well, yes there is - the young, single mum older sister, the geekiness of the other spellers, the early failure only to be saved at the last minute by the disqualification of a cheat... If you took the clichés out of this movie there's be nothing left. I thought Javier was great, Akeelah was stunning, Larabee played a great role, and it was good to see Booger back on the screens - that college education really paid off for him going on to be a school principal.