Akeelah and the Bee.

AKEELAH AND THE BEE Directed by Doug Atchison (Lions Gate Films, 2006)

After Spelling Bee in 2004 and last year's Bee Season, the release of Doug Atchison's movie about a South Central Los Angeles 11-year-old who can spell like a "B-R-A-I-N-I-A-C" could signal the rise of a new film genre--the spellbeender. Soon cable will have a reality show about the backstage bickering of fourth- and fifth-grade contestants, or popular TV stars will compete in a "Celebrity Spelling" show, with losers commiserating about the homonyms or prefixes that tripped them up.

The startling success of the spelling bee genre might be explained by the "cuteness" appeal of its preadolescent contestants or the dramatic tension of the winner-take-all competition. One of those doe-eyed tykes misses a silent consonant and it's over. And there is always the nerd appeal of these films--in spellbeenders the jocks and prom queens are stuck on the sidelines cheering for the kids with plastic pencil protectors. Hooray for the little (and geeky) girl or guy.

But spelling bee films also touch a national nerve about the inferiority of American schools, students, and study habits, and remind us of the intense personal labor and attention required for real teaching. The kids who succeed in these films get to the "Nationals" the way violinists get to Carnegie Hall--practice, practice, practice--and the parents or mentors who coach and train them give their undivided attention, a feature all too rare at the thousands of the overcrowded factory schools dotting the American landscape.

Akeelah (Keke Palmer) turns in a letter-perfect performance as a bright preteen who knows the costs schoolgirls can pay for being too smart but who discovers a talent and an appetite even her tired and resentful mother (Angela Bassett) can't dampen. Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) engages and mentors his young pupil with a passion and skill that will inspire the envy of every student (and former student) in the cineplex.