Akeelah and the Bee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Akeelah and the Bee | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster For Akeelah and the Bee. |
|
| Directed by | Doug Atchison |
| Produced by | Laurence Fishburne Sid Ganis Nancy Hult Daniel Llewelyn Michael Romersa |
| Written by | Doug Atchison |
| Starring | Keke Palmer Laurence Fishburne Angela Bassett Curtis Armstrong J.R. Villareal Sean Michael |
| Music by | Aaron Zigman |
| Cinematography | M. David Mullen |
| Editing by | Glenn Farr |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Films |
| Release date(s) | April 28, 2006 |
| Running time | 112 minutes (approx.) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Akeelah and the Bee is a 2006 film written and directed by Doug Atchison. It tells the story of Akeelah Anderson, portrayed by Keke Palmer, an 11-year-old girl who participates in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, her mother, schoolmates, and also her coach, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne. It also explores issues of education in the black community.
The film was developed over a period of 10 years by Doug Atchison, the germ of the idea having started after his watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee of 1994 and combined with his experiences spent tutoring disadvantaged students in the area around the University of Southern California, where he attended film school. After four years of trying to secure funding for the film, the documentary film Spellbound came out in 2002 and perhaps, according to one producer, Sid Ganis, facilitated funding. Spellbound features a black girl, Ashley White, from Washington, D.C., in rough parallel to the independent idea developed in Akeelah and the Bee.
The film has been heavily promoted by Starbucks as a result of a partnership between Lions Gate Films, 2929 Entertainment, and Starbucks Entertainment. It became the first DVD offered for sale at Starbucks. [1]
The film earned positive reviews from most critics, getting an 84% from 115 people at Rotten Tomatoes. [2]
- Tagline: Changing the world... one word at a time.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Akeelah Anderson is a talented girl at Crenshaw, a predominantly black school. Akeelah Anderson is especially talented at spelling, and never makes an error on her spelling tests. Her teacher recommends her to try out for the Crenshaw Schoolwide Spelling Bee, which she wins easily. After that, Dr. Joshua Larabee tests her with some difficult words, and finds that she has a potential of winning the National Spelling Bee. Upon making a mistake of spelling the word Pulchritude, she is upset because of her unmet expectations of being a "brainiac."
Mr. Welch, the principal, "makes her" join the spelling bee. He gives Akeelah two choices: detention for her skipped classes or Spelling Bee; Akeelah chooses the spelling bee.
Akeelah's mother, Tanya, is depressed at her husband's death, and does not want Akeelah to participate in the bee. She thinks that homework is on top of everything. Wanting to participate in the bee, Akeelah signs the consent form with her father's name.
When Akeelah requests Dr. Larabee to coach her, she is rejected for being insolent. She memorizes many words in the dictionary, and luckily finished in tenth place at the regional spelling bee. Her sister, Kiana, catches one of the contestants cheating at the bee, helping Akeelah to "make the cut". In this bee, she starts her friendship with Javier, a Mexican-American boy, who's age 11. Javier invites her to join the spelling club at Woodland Hills.
When Akeelah goes to Woodland Hills, with an unexpected long bus ride, she meets Dylan Chiu, a Chinese-American boy, aged 14. She is criticized by him that she needs a coach. Later, after the spelling club, she's invited to go to Javier's birthday party. Dylan tests Akeelah's word knowledge. Dylan requests Akeelah to spell Xanthosis, but Akeelah cannot. Dylan warns her that Xanthosis begins with an "X".
In the party, Javier kisses her with an impulse, while noticing Dylan playing Scrabble with other invited guests. Akeelah almost defeats Dylan by three points, before Akeelah hearing Dylan's father, who demands Dylan to do better, to avoid being "won over by this little black girl."
The time to the state bee comes closer. Akeelah memorizes all winning words of the past spelling bee, and's accepted to be coached by Dr. Larabee. Not only does Dr. Larabee teach her words, he also teaches her lessons about life.
During the state bee, Akeelah is interrupted by her mother. Her mother finds out about the bee, and requests her to stop competing in the bee. After being convinced by Larabee, Tanya, Akeelah's mother, allows her to continue in the bee. Meanwhile, Javier uses the word "ratatouille" to try and stall time before Akeelah comes back from discussion with her mother. Javier requests the judge to repeat, define, use it in a sentence, and even to sing it in a song. Finally, Dylan finishes first, Javier second, and Akeelah finishes third.
Christmas gets close. Akeelah goes and buys Dr. Larabee a present. However, Dr. Larabee did not want to coach Akeelah anymore because Akeelah makes him think of his deceased daughter, Denise. He makes Akeelah four boxes of 5,000 flashcards to study.
Akeelah gets depressed. She starts to give up spelling. She calls up her best friend, Georgia, to come skating with her, but she just responds coldly, "Why don't you go with your friends at Woodland hills?" And hangs up. After seeing on TV her community talking about her and wanting her to win the bee, Akeelah cries and goes to her room. Akeelahs mom goes after her and asks what's wrong. Akeelah tells her that Larabee won't coach her and Georgia won't talk to her, and on top of that all these people are expecting her to win. Her mother encourages her and tells her there are 50,000 coaches to help her. Akeelah smiles and resumes to her spelling.
Akeelah begins to search for her coaches. Everyone from her brother's gangster friends (Derrick T.) to grocery store managers to restaurant waiters are willing to coach her. She becomes happier and happier as the days go by.
The national spelling bee is coming up. Dr. Larabee is generous enough to buy tickets for four people, so that Georgia, Akeelah's best friend, and Akeelah's brother could go and watch Akeelah perform.
Akeelah so far is doing well in the spelling bee. She stumbles on only one word. She uses her strategy of jumping rope, taught by Dr. Larabee, in order to complete the word. The audience gets nervous, and Tanya could not bear to look. Everyone cheers when Akeelah successfully completes her word.
Javier spells the word "Merovingian" wrong, finishes 5th, and cheers Akeelah as she and Dylan compete for the cup.
The finals then come. Akeelah goes to wish Dylan good luck, but overhears his father's expectations of Dylan. She hears that Dylan's father wants him to get first place this year, so that he will be in first place in spelling bees for the rest of his life. Dr.Larabee finds her and tells her how proud he is of her. Akeelah asks if she loses, she can do it next year. Dr.Larabee responds with "Of course you can!" Akeelah smiles and goes back on stage, but Dr.Larabee knows something's up.
The finals begin with Akeelah spelling the word "xanthosis". She knows that Dylan's father expects much from Dylan, so she purposely spells the word as "zanthosis". Dr.Larabee stands up in shock, knowing that she's doing this on purpose. Dylan is both surprised and frustrated, knowing that he specifically asked her to spell this word at his school. He thinks if he should proceed and win, or purposely spell the word wrong to give Akeelah a chance. Dylan decides and ends up spelling the word ´´ Xanthosis´´ as "xanthoses". This time it is his father who stands up in shock.
Dylan has a little chat with Akeelah, and tells Akeelah that she has to do her best that year, or he would resign.
Afterwards, Dylan and Akeelah pass all 25 championship words, which had never happened before in Scripps history. Dylan encourages Akeelah, and vice versa. With Dylan winning the National Spelling Bee with the word "Logorrhea", Akeelah proceeds to the stage, staring at her family and her coach.
The judge begins to speak into the microphone, and Akeelah is requested to spell "Pulchritude", the word she had first stumbled on at Crenshaw schoolwide spelling bee. She smiles confidently. Akeelah pictures everyone's face, spelling one letter at a time. She spells it correctly and successfully wins the national spelling bee along with Dylan. Everyone cheers, from Crenshaw to Washington D.C..
The movie ends with a series of videos where Akeelah is receiving training from Dr. Larabee and her many coaches. Upon the quote,
" You know that feeling where there is joy, and that is love... L-O-V-E. "
[edit] Awards/Nominations
| Year | Awards | Category | Recepient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Image Awards | Outstanding Motion Picture | N/A | Nominated |
| Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture | Keke Palmer | Winner | ||
| Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture | Laurence Fishburne | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | Angela Bassett | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Screenwriting for a Motion Picture | Doug Atchison | Winner | ||
| Black Reel Awards | Best Motion Picture | Laurence Fishburne, Sidney Ganis, Nancy Hult, Daniel Llewellyn, Michael Romersa | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Keke Palmer | Winner | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Laurence Fishburne | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Angela Bassett | Nominated | ||
| Best Breakthrough Performance | Keke Palmer | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score | Aaron Zigman | Nominated | ||
| Broadcast Film Critics | Best Young Actress | Keke Palmer | Nominated | |
| Best Family Film (Live Action) | N/A | |||
| 2006 | Black Movie Awards | Outstanding Motion Picture | Laurence Fishburne, Sidney Ganis, Nancy Hult, Daniel Llewellyn, Michael Romersa | Winner |
| Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | Keke Palmer | |||
| Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role | Laurence Fishburne | |||
| Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role | Angela Bassett | |||
| Chicago Film Critics | Most Promising Newcomer | Keke Palmer | Nominated |
[edit] Words Spelled in the film
| Word | Meaning | Significance to the film |
|---|---|---|
| Xanthosis | A yellow discolor of skin. | Akeelah purposely spelled the word wrong, trying to give Dylan a chance to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. First mentioned at Woodland Hills by Dylan Chiu to Akeelah. |
| Pulchritude | A great physical beauty. (Derived from the latin word Pulcher.) | Akeelah's winning word of the National Spelling Bee. First mentioned when Joshua Larabee is testing Akeelah's vocabulary at Crenshaw. |
| Pluviosity | A state of being much rain | The word Akeelah spelled after a discussion with her mother during the state spelling bee. |
| Ratatouille | A vegetable stew | Javier used this word to try and stall time before Akeelah comes back from discussion with her mother. Javier requested the judge to repeat, define, use it in a sentence, and even to sing it in a song. |
| Merovingian | A dynasty of Frankish kings that ruled from the fifth to the eighth century. | Javier spelled this word wrong in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, finishing in fifth place. |
| Logorrhea | Excessive talkativeness; using many long words to express a simple idea. | Winning word for Dylan Chiu. |
| Prestidigitation | Sleight of hand | First word Joshua Larabee tested Akeelah. |
| Xylem | A tube in plants containing dead cells. It is used to transport nutrients and water up to the very top of the plant. | One of the words Javier spelled in one of the spelling bee. |
| Doubt | Having uncertainty of something. | The first word Akeelah spelled in the Crenshaw Spelling Bee. |
| Fanciful | Imaginative or fictional, whimsical. | The second to last word spelled in the Crenshaw Spelling Bee, enabling Akeelah to be the Crenshaw Spelling Bee winner. |
| Pterodactyl |
|
Used in the Crenshaw Spelling Bee as a "trick word, because everyone knows it starts with 'P' instead of 'T' " which is stated by Akeelah in the beginning of the movie. |
| Psoriasis | A skin condition which causes red scaly patches to appear on the skin. | One of the words posed by Akeelah to Javier and two other members of the Woodland Hills spelling bee study group. |
| Synecdoche | A term denoting when a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing, or a whole is used to refer to a part of it. | Word spelled in one of the rounds in the competition. |
| Grovel | Humble oneself in an abject manner. | The first word spelled in the film. |
