Bee Season

I appreciate that this is a movie that tries to do more than blow up stuff and make me buy popcorn. But I'm probably too much of an atheist to relate to everyone's need to get closer to god. And I'm definitely too much of a non-American to understand what the hell spelling bees are about. It's not you, movie, it's me. It's me who think you're boring.

I did not like Bee Season. The acting was overall pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the son but everyone else was good. I liked the story of the college professor dad who was into Kabbalah and found in his daughter something exciting. I liked the supernatural quality of the daughters spelling acumen. I liked that the story wasn't about the spelling bee but about the family. That's about it. I hated the mom's story. Binoche was great but I hated that story. I hate how it was presented and revealed.

Interesting story that provides a peek into a dysfunctional family while delivering a semi-religious message. However, with too many loose ends and questions, this movie doesn't deliver a solid impact.

Intriguing drama is beautifully shot, and features terrific performances all round (especially from Gere), but the screenplay casts its net far too wide, attempting to encapsulate a complicated family dynamic, the pressures of over-achieving, comparisons of different religious dogma and even teen issues into a compact 100 minute running time, resulting in a fairly messy and confusing narrative. Individual scenes are very moving, but the overall impact is muted.

Very shallow and badly built story. Some good, some bad CG imaginary, though that was mere side kick for the main story. As was Binoche.

Full of good ideas but only few good moments. Unsatisfying.

Effective in parts, but ultimately unsatisfying.

It's only a spelling bee. Lighten up.

"Bee Season's mysticism casts an incredibly cold, literal-minded spell." - Ed Gonzalez

Great movie if you want to fall asleep.

It's no Akeelah and the Bee and certainly no Spellbound. Though there is a great score that helps push the film with some fantastic imagery. But the pace is ultimatly uneven and the film is never as clever or full of merit like it desires.