Akeelah and the Bee

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Strong performances lift underdog story
Rating: 3.0 stars

By BRETT MICHEL

April 25, 2006 5:16:40 PM

AKEELAH: Fishburne and Palmer are buzzworthy.

How do you spell fortuity? Ask writer/director Doug Atchison. The etymology of his Nicoll Award–winning screenplay can be traced back some six years, in which time spelling bees have gone from abecedarian underground to hot cinematic property. Arriving on the wings of Jeffrey Blitz’s Spellbound and Scott McGehee & David Siegel’s Bee Season, Atchison’s underdog story may be conventional, but it’s elevated by the buzzworthy performance of 12-year-old newcomer Keke Palmer as Akeelah. (If she can spell her name, she can certainly spell “pulchritude.”) Motivated by her underfunded headmaster (Curtis Armstrong) and coached by UCLA professor Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), Akeelah progresses from her middle-school competition straight through to the nationals. Will her overprotective mother (Angela Bassett) or a competitor’s stereotyped Asian father (“Silly black girl!”) thwart a storybook ending? No need to spell this one out.

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Watch the trailer for Akeelah and the Bee (QuickTime)

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