Kid Vid: 7th-grader's struggle spellbinding

Jan Crain Rudeen, Special to the News

Friday, August 25, 2006

Akeelah and the Bee

Lionsgate. Rated PG. 112 min. $28.98; available Aug. 29

Grade: A

When I hear a movie touted as "inspirational" or "heartwarming," I roll my eyes. But this is the real thing. Like its title character, Akeelah and the Bee earned my admiration and turned any trace of cynicism inside out.

Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is a seventh-grader in south Los Angeles, a run-down and often chaotic part of the city. Akeelah is smart but doesn't put much effort into her studies. Her school is slowly falling down around her, a fact the clear-eyed Akeelah sees as evidence that she and her classmates don't matter much to the world outside the neighborhood.

Yet even without trying, Akeelah is a first-rate speller - a skill she shared with her late father. Her teacher and principal see her potential and persuade her to enter the school spelling bee. But when her win opens the door to the regional and national spelling championships, which could bring acclaim and much-needed funds for her school, Akeelah struggles with her beliefs about herself and her community.

Witness to Akeelah's fateful win is Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), an acclaimed English teacher and former winner of the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee. Larabee says he'll help Akeelah make it to the top only if she is willing to ignore the schoolyard taunts of "brainiac" and focus her energy on learning reams of words and their origins. Ultimately, Akeelah must find a way to excel without losing touch with friends and family.

In a brilliant, supremely self-possessed performance by Palmer, we sense Akeelah's anger and pain over her surroundings: the poverty and crime on her streets, the aimlessness of schoolmates and the way south L.A. can swallow up the people she cares about. But as Akeelah learns what it takes to become a national champion, she not only discovers more about life outside her neighborhood, but within it, too.

Despite the impressive writing and directing of Doug Atchison, this movie belongs to its cast of actors. Other key performances include Angela Bassett as Akeelah's beleaguered mom, Curtis Armstrong as her principal, Sahara Garey as her best friend, and J.R. Villarreal as her spelling bee buddy.

Also, notice the smaller roles, such as gangbanger Derrick-T (Eddie Steeples) and big sister (Erica Hubbard), which contribute to the story's authenticity and depth. It's a winner for the whole family.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Paramount Home Entertainment. 25 minutes. $16.99, DVD

Grade: A-

I watched this cartoon on more than one Halloween as a kid. While I've aged since then, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and its effect on children hasn't.

Charlie Brown can't wait to attend his first Halloween party, though he finds more tricks than treats during the evening. Meanwhile, his pal Linus won't budge from the pumpkin patch, where he eagerly awaits the arrival of the legendary Great Pumpkin.

This story of childhood expectations is short but sweet, charming young audiences with gentle humor while eliciting empathy for Charlie and Linus.

Included on this disc is You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, about the big day when the students vote for class president.

My Summer Story

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/MGM Home Entertainment. 85 minutes. $19.94, DVD

Grade: C

I had high expectations for this sequel to the quirky and popular 1984 film, A Christmas Story. Unfortunately, it can't recapture the spirit of its predecessor, even though the original director and writer/narrator of the first film are back.

Made 10 years after A Christmas Story under the title It Runs in the Family and renamed for video release, My Summer Story continues the comic adventures of the middle-class, middle-America Parker family in the 1940s.

But actor Charles Grodin can't carry the pivotal role of the patriarch played so well by Darren McGavin in the first film. It doesn't help that the eccentric script's laughs are inconsistent - although as the mother, Mary Steenburgen has a hilarious moment with a gravy boat. But the family's not the same and, unfortunately, can't escape comparisons to the earlier and superior film.

BRIEFLY: Catch The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, one of Scholastic Video Collection's latest releases ($14.95; available Aug. 29). Inspired by the true story of Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between New York's now-absent World Trade Center towers, this animated short from the 2004 Caldecott Medal book by Mordicai Gerstein is both captivating and edgy. Afterward, head to the public library and check out Petit's own account, To Reach the Clouds.