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Akeelah and the Bee

Keke Palmer (Actor), Laurence Fishburne (Actor, Producer), Doug Atchison (Director) Rated:
PG
Format: Blu-ray
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 4,100 ratings
IMDb7.4/10.0
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May 30, 2017
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Genre African-American
Format Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Dolby
Contributor Curtis Armstrong, Keke Palmer, Angela Bassett, Doug Atchison, 2929 Productions LLC; Cinema Gypsy Productions, Inc.; Out of the Blue Entertainment; Reactor Films, Laurence Fishburne See more
Language English
Runtime 1 hour and 53 minutes

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Product Description

A young girl from South Los Angeles tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee.

Product details

  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 1.6 ounces
  • Audio Description: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Doug Atchison
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Dolby
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 53 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ May 30, 2017
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ Spanish
  • Producers ‏ : ‎ Laurence Fishburne
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Lionsgate
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06XRD6WJ7
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 4,100 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
4,100 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story.
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
Liked the story and the characters.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It!
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024
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Thanks for keeping it real. And, leaving me with a smile.
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Gram’s good advice
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring family movie
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024
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Great movie! Watched it alone and then with my school-age grandchild who loved it! Very inspiring!
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R. K. Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, heartwarming movie.
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
In my opinion, this is the best of the Hollywood "poor boy makes good" category. Akeelah is a poor black girl from the slums of L.A. whose dead father has inspired in her a gift for spelling. She is encouraged by teachers to enter spelling bees, acquires a demanding tutor, beautifully played by Laurence Fishburne, and two male white fellow contenders, one friendly, one not. The writing is funny and anything but cloyingly sentimental, and both the audience and Akeelah learn a lot about family, community, understanding. competitors. One of the best feel-good movies.
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G
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2023
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This film is such a delight. It shows the beauty and grace that comes from a girl who lives in the very poor areas of the world. Her family lost her father from a gun shot. She happens to be fantastic at spelling and eventually becomes a member of a well known spelling bee. Wonderful to see what she has to do mind wise to be in this difficult spelling bee and she has a dual win with another challenging champion.
Bravo !
One person found this helpful
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Len B
4.0 out of 5 stars Not 'Rocky'; Not 'Karate Kid'; Better than either!
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2007
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I had always thought there were only two possible outcomes to the 'pyramidal' type suspense story-- that is, the type like 'Rocky' or 'The Karate Kid' that takes a central character to an ultimate confrontation, with either an uplifting 'Agony of Defeat' type of climax or a 'Success of Course' type outcome. [The underrated Searching for Bobby Fischer is another excellent example.]

Silly me!

There's at least one more kind of ending possible, and Akeelah and the Bee provides a perfect example of it. I'm sure it will be copied extensively as time rolls forward, but this movie is the first one to feature it, and the surprise is delightful. In other words, it doesn't end the way you think it will, NO MATTER HOW you thought it would!

It's an original story in some other ways as well: (1) It looks at stereotyping from several different angles, not just the standard two or three; (2) the standard 'gruff curmudgeon' authority figure [played by Laurence Fishburne] that is normal fare in these kinds of plots is in this case a very vulnerable person who is willing to let that fact show, and this gives a depth to the story that is usually missing; (3) the 'bad guy' opponent has demons of his own to fight, paralleling in many ways the demon that the protaganist faces. This gives a complexity to the competitions that is almost always missing in this type of story.

The tale revolves around the title character, Akeelah, who lives in southwest Los Angeles, with all of the issues that such a setting implies. She becomes hooked on 'spelling bees,' and in spite of heavy odds against her participation creates for herself the dream of competing in the national championship that is broadcast on ESPN every year. It's no spoiler to say that she does indeed get there, surmounting odds of many kinds. But it *would* be a spoiler to say what happens once she does reach her goal, so I'll remain silent on that point. (Just remember what I said earlier, about there not being only two possible outcomes to such a plot.)

What I won't stay silent about is my enthusiasm for the director, the screenplay, the casting, the editing, and, most of all, the star of this motion picture. And when I say Star I'm not exaggerating. Keke Palmer steals this show, from the first instant she appears. Nor is she merely a very bright child [or very young adult, if you prefer] who can get away with playing herself provided there's an excellent director handy. There IS an excellent director handy, but no way does she play herself, as will become apparent when you watch the extensive interviews with her that are part of the extras in this package.

Since making this movie, she has become quite successful in the music business, as a singer and star of music videos. But in that genre, she is an entirely different person from the character she portrays in this movie, as well as being yet again distinct from the 'real' Keke in the interviews. She's a complex person with a multitude of talents, and the producers of this movie are luckier than they can imagine that they found her for the role. She's PERFECT.

The same can't be said for the motion picture as a whole. For one thing, this type of formulaic plot has become so familiar to us that certain scenes can be 'smelled' long before they show up. [Credit the editors that they cut one such scene out before the movie was released, though it still exists in the extras on the DVD.]

Another problem is that when the 'bad guy' is both a kid and a member of a minority himself, it's hard to stay mad at him for very long, but he does a good job [along with the excellent direction] of keeping the 'bad vibes' flowing as long as he possibly can.

As is true of most really good 'children's movies,' this isn't a movie just for children. There's a lot in it for appreciative adults as well. I recommend it highly, for viewers of all ages.
20 people found this helpful
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Barbara DK
5.0 out of 5 stars Great movie for the family
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023
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This was a sweet heartwarming movie that touch everyone in the family. Acting was superb and storyline was interesting. Rent it and you'll see what I mean.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jaye
5.0 out of 5 stars Great movie!
Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2023
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This is a great movie for all ages!
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Cheerioh
5.0 out of 5 stars Super mignon pour les enfants, assez émouvant
Reviewed in France on February 21, 2018
Verified Purchase
J'ai utilisé ce film en classe. Il n'est pas en français, uniquement sous-titres en anglais mais accessible pour des élèves dès la 5ème. C'est émouvant et plein de bons sentiments. Akeelah est une jeune fille de banlieue pauvre, depuis la mort de son père elle épèle tous les mots. C'est ainsi qu'elle est sélectionnée pour le National Spelling Bee contest, une compétition très prisée aux USA. Franchement c'est un chouette petit film pour les enfants et jeunes ados.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Family Favourite
Reviewed in Australia on October 19, 2019
Verified Purchase
My family all like this movie. The acting is excellent and the story holds our interest. There are no controversial themes and no unacceptable language.
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Vicki L Sanneh
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2016
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Great movie, suggested to me by a friend.
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AN
5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed role model
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2010
Verified Purchase
Though this film was made in America, the three main child characters are from ethnic backgrounds and echo situations that arise elsewhere, particularly in multicultural Britain (which is my neck of the woods). This would be an important film to be shown in some of the problem schools in cities where low self esteem in the pupils has resulted in bad behaviour and slipped standards. However, a viewing in private and all white schools would also help to improve their opinion of intelligene within the Black community. We should definitely be producing more films with this up-beat message.
6 people found this helpful
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