Akeelah and the Bee

I just saw it at the Tribeca Film Festival. Afterwards, there was a Q&A with the director, cast, and crew. First thing you'll notice about this film is that the little girl, Akeelah, is black. Why did I point this out just now? Every single black stereotype that can possibly surface, does surface. Not only that, but it happens in the first few minutes of the film. From the Hollywood-esquire, over-done ebonics to the fact that the family dinner consists of chicken, the fact that this girl is black and comes from the ghetto is beaten over your head a million times over. The beginning of the movie also has bad timing. At one moment, she is doing poor in school. The next, how about a spelling bee? The beginning is so jaunty that it simply doesn't work. The rest of the movie plays out as an average underdog story. The black girl gimmick plays out very quickly, but that doesn't keep the writer from making references to civil rights leaders. Obviously, a black girl winning a spelling bee is analogous to the civil rights movement, right? What is surprisingly scary about this gimmick is that it actually worked. Everybody at the Q&A after the movie seemed to absolutely gobble it up. Everyone asked crap questions like "Critics said that this is the best movie of the year. How will you handle the success?" I asked the only critical question, which was "The continuity of the movie seemed off, and the scene transitions were very forced. For example, at one moment, the girl is walking home. In an instant, she is being woken up. Why do the scene transitions seem so forced?" The director gave one of the biggest cop-out replies I have ever heard: "Maybe the reel transitions were too hard". Yes. It's the projectionist's fault. Definitely not the fault of the director. This movie is nothing special. I'd pass.