gofastergetrounder This is just a terrific movie. I rented it for my daughter when she was much younger. We watched it twice when she was around the age of 4 or so. Thoroughly enjoyed it then. I mentioned it to her recently and she didn't really remember it. Consequently, we watched it again a short while ago (she is now 11). She really enjoyed it and I did too. I almost never watch movies more than once. This one I have seen three times and enjoyed it each time. Highly recommended.

aburowad In the case of "Akeelah and the Bee", it's in South Los Angeles' Crenshaw Middle School. When Akeelah Anderson's father tragically killed, the 11 year-old turns to spelling as a means of grieving (her father was also an avid Scrabble player). But in South Los Angeles' Crenshaw Middle School, being too smart will get you labeled "brainiac" and quickly ostracized. Akeelah, who has a problem with attendance, is encouraged by her teacher Ms. Cross (Dalia Phillips) and Principal Mr. Welch to join the school's spelling bee where she, naturally, excels. Mr. Welch, eager to garner the school some positive press, brings along Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), a former spelling champ-turned- professor now on sabbatical. Dr. Larabee recognizes Akeelah as a diamond in the rough, but must be convinced that she is willing to commit to her education. As the film deftly details, spelling bees are not just about memorizing but about learning the origins of words.The story is beautifully told and the acting is wonderful by a very talented cast, including Angela Bassett as Akeelah's mother. Bassett and Fishburne have appeared together before, most famously as the mercurial musical duo Ike and Tina Turner in the award-winning "What's Love Got to Do with It" (both were nominated for Academy Awards and Bassett should have won). The story wouldn't work this well without having the right actress play the part of Akeelah, and Keke Palmer is perfect in the role. For writer-director Doug Atchison, this was clearly a labor of love. This film rate an A

kirk-246 I watched this movie in my English class a couple of days before school ended.On the first day when I watched it,we didn't have enough time to finish it.But I wanted to.Lucky for me,we finished the rest of the movie the next day.This movie was excellent.Keke Palmer does a wonderful job as Akeelah Anderson.Plus,this movie has a great message for teens.I forgot what it was,but I know that there is a good message in this movie.I guess I'll have to watch it again.When Akeelah was spelling the words in the spelling bee,I had no idea if she was going to lose or win,so it was a little suspenseful.Overall,this is a great movie that has Oscar written all over it.

napierslogs Overall I think Hollywood chose a good premise, and made a very touching, good movie. But they made too many little mistakes. The character of Akeelah was wonderful. I liked every choice they made for her. But they showed no respect for the audience, because outside of Akeelah, all we got were errors in the spelling bee formats, cliché minor story lines, and some truly horrendous, trite dialogue.I found it was in pretty bad taste to get the real-life moderator of the Scripps Spelling Bee but then not show the bee accurately. Basically every part of the movie had flaws to it. Some people will call them little things, but to me they pretty much ruined the movie.If only they cared about making a good movie instead of a Hollywood movie, then this might have been great.