I defied usual patterns of behavior moments ago by making it entirely through Akeelah and the Bee without falling asleep, after working until nearly 1 a.m. Saturday morning. Usually, the redhead says, the whir of a DVD sliding into the player is enough to lull me into a deep slumber, but perhaps the skim latte I sucked down at 6 p.m. helped stave off the ZZZs.
Anyway, although I'm inclined to enjoy any movie that features Scrabble so prominently, the story of Akeelah, an 11-year-old from the 'hood who gains the love and respect of her family and peers as she prepares for the national spelling bee, was just cloyingly sweet. Probably best suited for those who still can muster that suspension of disbelief so necessary to truly enjoy such a film, such as my 6-year-old niece.
The redhead declined to watch it, asking "what's with all the spelling bee movies these days?" There do seem to be several live and film depictions of the contests out there, what with the 2005 adaptation of Bee Season and the musical on Broadway. But he never even saw the best of the bunch: Spellbound, a documentary about kids preparing for the nationals.
And who knows? They may someday exist only in fictionalized form. Some people are blaming what's known as the No Child Left Behind act as a good reason to disband spelling bees altogether.
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