An inspirational drama, Akeelah and the Bee is the story of Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), a precocious eleven-year-old girl from south Los Angeles with a gift for words. When she discovers a knack for spelling bees, Akeelah overcomes her worries about being labeled a "brainiac" and decides to pursue her new passion. Despite the objections of her mother Tanya (Angela Bassett), Akeelah enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne); her principal Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong) and the proud residents of her neighborhood.
Akeelah's aptitude earns her an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But the stakes are high, and not every competitor's family is as supportive as Akeelah's community is. When it comes down to Akeelah and one other competitor, she has to decide what is most important: winning, being kind, or being true to yourself.
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"There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe the excellence of Akeelah and the Bee.... Structured like a conventional sports drama, Akeelah and the Bee rises above its generic trappings to become an uplifting and deeply moving study of friendship, pride, fair play, and above all, the value of self-confidence and realization that there's more to life than winning." — Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com Reviews
Media Type | Movie |
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Recommended Age | 7 and up |
Special Features | Mighty Girl Top Picks |
Actors | Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Keke Palmer, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal |
Director | Doug Atchison |
Running Time | 112 minutes |
Studio | Lionsgate |
Release Date | Aug 29, 2006 |
Language | English |