Akeelah and the Bee

Plot synopsis:
Akeelah Anderson, an 11-year-old spelling enthusiast, attends Crenshaw Middle School, a predominantly black school in South Los Angeles. She lives with her widowed mother Tanya, her older sister Kiana, her older brothers Devon and Terrence, and her infant niece. Her principal Mr. Welch suggests that she sign up for the Crenshaw Schoolwide Spelling Bee. She follows his advice and wins. Soon after, Dr. Joshua Larabee, a visiting English professor and Mr. Welch's friend from college, tests Akeelah and decides that she is good enough to compete in the National Spelling Bee. Nevertheless, Dr. Larabee declines to coach her because she is rude to him. As a result, Akeelah studies on her own to prepare for the district spelling bee. Although Akeelah misspells her word during the final round of the bee, she qualifies for the regional bee when Kiana catches the other finalist cheating. Akeelah also meets and befriends Javier Mendez, a 12-year-old Mexican American boy and fellow speller. Javier invites her to join the spelling club at his Woodland Hills middle school.
At Woodland Hills, Akeelah meets Dylan Chiu, a Chinese American boy who had won second place at the past two national spelling bees. Contemptuous, he asks her to spell "xanthosis". When she starts with a "z", he tells her she needs a coach. At the conclusion of the spelling club meeting, Javier invites Akeelah to his birthday party. At the party, Akeelah nearly beats Dylan in Scrabble. The boy is reprimanded by his father for nearly losing to "a little black girl". After the party, Tanya is depressed over her husband's death and concerned about her daughter's grades and frequent truancy. As she finds out about Akeelah going alone to Woodland Hills, she subsequently forbids Akeelah from participating in the upcoming state bee. To circumvent this prohibition, Akeelah forges her deceased father's signature on the consent form and secretly studies with Dr. Larabee. During the state bee, Tanya comes inside and interrupts her daughter before she can spell her word. Tanya relents after a side discussion with Dr. Larabee and Mr. Welch. Javier protects Akeelah from disqualification by stalling until she can return. Dylan, Javier and Akeelah advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
As Christmas approaches, Akeelah goes out to buy Dr. Larabee a present, but when she meets him, he reveals that he is quitting being her coach because she reminds him of his deceased daughter Denise. Instead, he gives Akeelah 5,000 flashcards to study. Without her coach, rejected by her best friend Georgia, and feeling the pressure from her neighborhood residents to make them proud, Akeelah loses her motivation. However, Tanya tells her that if she looked around her, she would realize that she has "50,000 coaches". Akeelah recruits her family members, classmates, teachers, friends, and neighbor Derrick T to prepare in earnest. After reuniting with Dr. Larabee, Akeelah goes to Washington, D.C. with him, along with Tanya, Georgia, Mr. Welch, and Devon, unaware that her coach has paid for four of their tickets. Georgia rekindles her friendship with Akeelah after she invites her. During the competition, Akeelah becomes a crowd favorite. After all the other competitors are eliminated, only Dylan and Akeelah remain. The two finalists are allowed a break, during which Akeelah overhears Dylan's father harshly pressuring him to win. Akeelah attempts to intentionally lose by deliberately misspelling "xanthosis". Dylan, knowing that Akeelah knows this word, intentionally misspells it as well. Dylan tells Akeelah that he wants a fair competition, rejecting his father's obsession to win. The two then proceed to spell every word listed by the judges in the hopes of winning the championship together, with Dylan earning a share of it by correctly spelling "logorrhea", much to his father's delight. Akeelah spells the last word on the list, "pulchritude", and the two are declared co-champions amidst a cheering crowd.

Tags: cute, sentimental, feel-good

Review: