Akeelah And The Bee

I took the Daughter to see this sweet movie at the dollar theater last night and am glad we made time for the outing. It is a wonderful story about an eleven-year-old girl attending a depressing inner-city school who has learned a love of words from her deceased father. No one in Akeelah's life pays much attention to her amazing vocabulary until a teacher brings it to the principal's attention and he decides that having a student of theirs make it to the National Spelling Bee might get his school the attention it needs to attract the funding needed to fix its problems. Akeelah is not interested in the principal's plan and doesn't want to be seen as a freak in her neighborhood, but her love for words takes over and she soon finds herself driven to try to win the Bee. As she enters the world of the Bee, Akeelah makes new friends outside of her neighborhood but she also improves her existing network of support within it and within her own family. She remains kind and compassionate to others throughout the competition of the Bees and she inspires other people to be kind to each other with her integrity and generosity.

This movie is not about spelling, so you can take kids who do not spell well to see and enjoy it, if they are mature enough to understand the movie's message: Akeelah And The Bee is about not being afraid to open the gifts that you have been given and use them to your highest ability, no matter how frightening and isolating such an endeavor may seem. The movie has a message that is good for every kid to hear as everyone has some amazing gift that they need to have the courage to work to develop. I highly recommend it.