Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Director:

Doug Atchison

Writer (WGA):

Doug Atchison (written by)

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

Changing the world... one word at a time.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Museum | First Kiss | Interview | Widow | Divorcé

Awards:

8 wins & 12 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. May 23	9:30 PM	TMC
Wed. May 28	8:05 AM	TMC
Wed. May 28	4:50 PM	TMC

Cast

Keke Palmer	...	Akeelah
Laurence Fishburne	...	Dr. Larabee
Angela Bassett	...	Tanya
Curtis Armstrong	...	Mr. Welch
J.R. Villarreal	...	Javier
Sean Michael	...	Dylan (as Sean Michael Afable)
Sahara Garey	...	Georgia
Lee Thompson Young	...	Devon
Julito McCullum	...	Terrence
Erica Hubbard	...	Kiana
Eddie Steeples	...	Derrick-T
Dalia Phillips	...	Ms. Cross
Tzi Ma	...	Mr. Chiu
Jeris Poindexter	...	Steve (as Jeris Lee Poindexter)
Sara Niemietz	...	Polly

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language.

Runtime:

USA:112 min | Argentina:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-3 | Singapore:PG | Ireland:PG | UK:12A | UK:PG (re-rating) (2007)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Spelling Bee Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Among the spelling words in the film are: prestidigitation, ambidextrous, pterodactyl, pulchritude, pastiche, xanthosis, cabalistic, soliterraneous, grandiloquent, catastasis, endentulous, quinquevir, bioluminescent, objugatory, kookaburra, effervescible, quiddity, pyrophanous, mountebank, numismatics, arboriculture, argillaceous, serpiginous, and logorrhea.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the National Spelling Bee, Akeela's brother Devon is shown wearing Staff Sergeant's stripes (four stripes.) Later, he is shown wearing Senior Airman's stripes (three stripes.)

Quotes:

[last lines]
Akeelah: You know that feeling where everything feels right? Where you don't have to worry about tomorrow or yesterday, where you feel safe and know you're doing the best you can? There's a word for that, it's called love. L-O-V-E.

Movie Connections:

Features E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Soundtrack:

Lester Hayes

Feel Good MOVIE to the tenth POWER!

I loved this movie. I was fortunate to see it at the Phx Film Festival and Lawrence Fishburn was at the movie doing a Q&A afterwords. The movie was great. The little 11 year old black girl, Akeelah was amazing and brave. Angela Bassett delivered the goods as the mother. This is the 2nd time she has worked with Lawrence. The best part of the movie was when they were in the garden and talking about Dr. Larabee's wife and daughter. It was also amazing when he was trying to make her concentrate by smashing things and making her jump rope. The scene where the MOM storms into the auditorium was intense also. Of course, BOOGER from REVENGE OF THE NERDS stole the scenes that he was in. He played a normal principal. Very good movie all the way around. Very good.