Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Akeelah's wasting her exceptional mind in an unexceptional environment, finding it's easier to blend in than to publicly engage in intellectual joys like playing Scrabble or attending class. Her principal hits on the idea to, basically, exploit her natural spelling talent in hopes that it will translate to money for the school -- and Akeelah finds her niche.

It's got several great messages: be true to yourself, community pride can occur in any community, and children need the adults in their lives to be active therein. So, why does this great stuff have to be so clichéd? My younger son and I both enjoyed it, but the script eventually let us down. The false-feeling "everyone's a winner" ending was especially silly.

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