Akeelah and the Bee (2006) -vs- Bee Season (2005)

Review by Bryce Zabel 

This one came out differently than I thought it would. Let's start at the beginning. As a regular coffee drinker, I have probably learned how to spell about 60 new words thanks to the over-powering Starbucks campaign for Akeelah and the Bee. If you thought McDonald's Happy Meal movie tie-ins were big, this seemed bigger. And, in fact, the opening credit on the movie is something like "A Starbucks Production" and the company's logo is right there on screen.

Anyway, Akeelah and the Bee is about Akeelah Anderson, a young African-American girl, who gets a chance to go to the nationals, pushed and supported by Doctor Larabee, played by Laurence Fishburne. Akeelah is wonderfully acted by Keke Palmer.

"Akeela, you are the One. Wait, no, that's Neo, but you're the Two."

If Fishburne feels a little familiar in this role, remember he also coached a child prodigy in Searching for Bobby Fischer. Anyway, despite the promotional tie-in of Starbucks pushing the film, you'll be happy to know there is no massive coffee drinking in this movie. I don't recall a Starbucks cup being turned to the camera just so. Imagine if Coca-Cola had been behind this film, you'd have cans and bottles everywhere. So, Starbucks, thanks for the restraint.

But, back to the surprise in my own mind... With all the build-up, I had a lot of anticipation about seeing Akeelah and the Bee. Looking for an appropriate Smackdown, I picked Bee Season which came out only last year. I hadn't seen it in the theaters so I rented it and watched it on the family big screen.

It was a very unusual movie, much different than I thought it would be, based on the title and remembering seeing trailers for it in the theaters. The spelling bee in Bee Season takes a back seat to the dysfunctional family behind its young prodigy. She's played by the phenomenal Flora Cross. The thing is her dad teaches Jewish history and the Kabbalah at Berkeley and he sees her quest as a chance to test his theories. Then there's mom who's stealing things from people's homes in broad daylight. And her brother whose teen rebellion invovles becoming a Hare Krishna. Very, very strange stuff.

"God wants you to spell that word correctly and make daddy happy."

After watching Bee Season, I was absolutely convinced that I would end up liking Akeelah and the BeeAkeelah and the Bee had such a great pedigree and, hell, it had Starbucks behind it. If they made movies, like they made coffee, what could go wrong? better. I'm not a huge Richard Gere fan, the device of Eliza (Flora Cross's character) shutting her eyes and seeing the words as computer generated images swirling around her wasn't 100% working and I hated that the final word in the spelling bee was "origami" and somebody mispells it for the national championship, something I just thought could never happen. Besides, it just seemed like

But a funny thing happened. They did end up making Akeelah and the Bee the way they make coffee. They made it completely for the mass market, they made it safe, they made it consistent and they made it smooth without edges. It was as predictable as my morning grande half-caf.

There's nothing wrong with Akeelah and the Bee. It hits all the right marks, right on time. But there is not a surprise in the entire two hours. Every character feels like a politically correct stereotype and every plot point seems completely predictable. That's p-r-e-d-i-c-t-a-b-l-e.

When it comes to my morning coffee, I prefer Starbucks over Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. But I like my movies a little less safe. So, oddly enough, this Smackdown goes to the fighter who punched unconventionally and not the one who tried to cover up  and win on points. Bee Season.

*****

FOOTNOTE:  Even though it loses this Smackdown, Akeelah and the Bee will still be remembered for the Marianne Williamson quote -- invoked several times -- that was also used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”