Akeelah and the Bee

Audience Reviews

View More (1000+)

Mikey B Inspirational movie that has 11 year old discovering she has a knack for spelling. With some help and encouragement, especially from Laurence Fishburne's character, she works her way up to the National Spelling Bee. Movie is a feel good movie without being too maudlin. Great to watch with older children and up. Positive messages and will have you rooting for Akeelah Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/22/25 Full Review Mitchell S It's heart-warming and it emphasizes the importance of education! It has surprisingly high stakes for a movie just about spelling words. It puts other competition movies to S-H-A-M-E. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/08/25 Full Review Alfred Junior T A good film showcasing determination to get to the top Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/25 Full Review Blu B A Classic Sports Drama. The acting is excellent from Palmer, Bassett, and Fishburne who give powerhouse performances. The supporting cast is really good and everything else is really well done. It never really feels over the top or melodramatic when it deals with the obsticles Akeelah has to over come which is a testament to how well it's made. The situations she was thrown into like her Mom taking her off stage never felt hammed in but very real. Really the only issues are it is very much by the numbers for a sports drama and you can kind of see the whole thing coming. I do find it a bit cliche to have her and Dylan at the very end going the whole distance but it's so well done and you love the characters so much it doesn't really matter. If Dylan was more symbolic rather than your stereotypical villian that would've proably pushed this into all time great sports movies. Anyone who is a fan of the director, any actors in this, sports movies, dramas, feel good films, or wants to get psyched to spell should check this out. O-U-T...OUT! :) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/13/24 Full Review Maripaz I i like it . must see if you have a spelling bee Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review Audience Member I missed it in theaters. Yet this was Keke Palmer's rise to stardom. Your brain has to be smarter than your body, you can't grow if you're a shrinking violet, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure not being inadequate, we have more than one coach in life to help us along that way, words come from all around us, smaller ones can create bigger ones, love is the feeling where we feel safe and nothing else scares us Keke Palmer's performance is a delight. Laurence Fishburne is great as her spelling coach and Angela Bassett does wonders as her concerned mother. Spelling is hard but learning to spell out everything in your own as a kid in life is just as hard. Even if we have a strong vocabulary we have to exercise everything else at our disposal. Others laugh at our ability but the true concern is how far we can make it on our own. A terrific family flick with a stunning performance by a rising child actress. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Akeelah and the Bee

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now