Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Directed by Doug Atchison. Starring Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J. R. Villarreal, Sahara Garey, Sean Michael Afable, Julito McCullum, Erica Hubbard, Lee Thompson Young, Tzi Ma, Dalia Phillips, Eddie Steeples. [PG]

Feel-good story of an eleven-year-old black girl (Palmer) from South Central L.A. with a passion for spelling who’s encouraged by faculty at her school to compete in the National Spelling Bee. No need to dust the emotional buttons for fingerprints—writer/director Atchison pushes them all, and it works more often than not; trouble is, the clichés pile up higher than Arby’s roast beef (as seen in the commercials. that is). Refreshingly avoids a lot of the pitfalls and stereotypes of the African-American-youth(s)-make(s)-good trope (the Asian-American community is not so lucky, however). Appearing in nearly every scene, young Palmer proves a natural, nailing her character’s diffident braininess, earnestness, and angst; as her respective coach and mother, Fishburne and Bassett provide surefooted support even when the script forces them into short-lived antagonism. Fishburne is also one of the producers; co-executive produced by Mark Cuban.

67/100