page_title: Akeelah and the Bee
section_title: Critical reaction
hierarchical_section_title: Akeelah and the Bee / Release and reception / Critical reaction
caption_attribution_description: English: Teen actress-singer KeKe Palmer performs a free show March 9, 2008, in the south parking lot of the Keesler Air Force base exchange. She signed autographs following the show. She starred in Akeelah and the Bee and had roles in BarberShop 2, Strong Medicine, Cold Case, ER, Law and Order SVU, The Wool Cap, Madea’s Family Reunion and Knights of the South Bronx. She has a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
context_page_description: Akeelah and the Bee is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Doug Atchison. It tells the story of Akeelah Anderson, an 11-year-old girl who participates in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, her mother, her schoolmates, and her coach, Dr. Joshua Larabee. The cast also features Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Erica Hubbard, Lee Thompson Young, Julito McCullum, Sahara Garey, Eddie Steeples, and Tzi Ma.
  The film was developed over a period of 10 years by Atchison, who came up with the initial concept after seeing the 1994 Scripps National Spelling Bee and noting that a majority of the competitors came from well-off socioeconomic backgrounds. After completing the script in 1999, Atchison won one of the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting in 2000, which attracted producers Sid Ganis and Nancy Hult Ganis. After an initial inability to secure funding, the project got a second wind as a result of the success of the 2002 documentary film Spellbound. Lionsgate Films undertook the production in 2004 and in the following year it was filmed in South Los Angeles on a budget of over $6 million.
context_section_description: The film received generally positive reviews from film critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 85% approval rating based on 140 reviews, with an average rating of 7.07/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A warm, family-friendly underdog story, featuring terrific supporting performances from Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett." On Metacritic, the film has an average weighted score of 72 out 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare average grade of "A+".
  Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote it is "an uncommonly good movie, entertaining and actually inspirational". Writing for Film Journal International, Doris Toumarkine praised its pace and how "Atchison takes spelling competitions and conveys the excitement of the 'sport,' the appeal of the 'game,' the thrill of the win, [and] the crushing blow of the loss." Hornaday from The Washington Post called the film "a triumph on many levels" and proclaimed, "It's that nod to the collective ... that makes Akeelah and the Bee so special." She especially appreciated that South Los Angeles was presented without stereotypes. Jane Clifford of U-T San Diego felt the film would appeal to both children and adults, and stated that every time she tried to predict its plot "it took a sharp turn. A turn that leaves you facing your stereotypes and feeling a little sheepish." Dana Stevens, writing for The New York Times, asserted, "The innate suspense and charm of the spelling bee," and "a trio of crack performances" can turn "a formulaic sports picture" into a "tale that manages to inspire without being sappy." Shantayaé Grant of The Jamaica Observer wrote that "acting is spectacular, the emotions are real and this story of black triumph is simply phenomenal." New York Press critic affirmed that Akeelah and the Bee "resurrects a nearly lost idea of what an art-movie really is" because it has "dramatic attention to character and place, psychology and existence."
  Chang of Variety commented that it "plays like The Karate Kid with a pro-literacy agenda, pushing all the right emotional buttons yet hitting quite a few wrong ones in the process." The Evening Chronicle's review said it "conceals few narrative surprises" but contended that "when [Atchison] does finally defy our expectations, it's to ensure his spellers learn a valuable lesson about integrity." Turan of the Los Angeles Times criticized that the film "telegraphs its plot"; however, he praised it as "genuinely sweet and determinedly inspirational." PopMatters's Cynthia Fuchs stated it is formulaic as it has some "conventions that make so many other genre films feel stale," but that it "torques them slightly", emphasizing the "intellectual activities" Akeelah gets involved with. Furthermore, the film was described as "derivatively entertaining in a feel-good sort of way" by Rick Groen in an article for The Globe and Mail. Ingman of The Austin Chronicle described it as a typical sports film and felt it was heavy-handed at times. However, she praised it for its themes and called the film a "[t]houghtful, engaging," one and said it has "cross-gender appeal". Morris of The Boston Globe argued, "If Akeelah and the Bee is a generic, well-oiled commercial contraption, it is the first to credibly dramatize the plight of a truly gifted, poor black child." Morris added, "Obviously, it's emotional propaganda. But it's just the kind of propaganda our children need."
  Despite being a "critically acclaimed" film, according to Rotten Tomatoes, not all of its reviews were this positive. Anna Smith of Empire called it "formulaic and all-American", commenting that many scenes "appear functional rather than inspirational", and that the film focused on the racial issue "a little too heavily". Smith stated, "clunky plotting and characterisation mean it has 'telemovie' written all over it." Marc Mohan from The Oregonian stressed it can be compared to after-school specials due to its "lack of originality in plot and character.
caption: Keke Palmer's portrayal of Akeelah was highly praised by critics, with one saying she "[stole the] movie from Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne".[86] Palmer's performance led her to win several awards, including a Black Movie Award, a Black Reel Award, a NAACP Image Award, and a Young Artist Award.[87][88][89][90]
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