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Spellbound (Movie Review)
(A-
-- "So
enthralling, engrossing, suspenseful, and enjoyable")
by
Todd Heustess
I would have never thought that a documentary about the
National Spelling Bee would be so enthralling, engrossing,
suspenseful, and enjoyable. |
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But Spellbound, a new
documentary that tracks 8 participants in
the National Spelling Bee, is all the
above as well as heartwarming and
thoroughly entertaining. The filmmakers
profile 8 participants among the 249 who
competed in the annual Scripps Howard
National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.;
and it's the 8 kids and their stories that
make the film so compelling and so
uniquely American. The age limit to
compete in the Spelling Bee is 14, so the
kids profiled range in age from 11 - 14,
and in many ways it's their unvarnished
awkward adolescence that makes them so
endearing. One girl from the projects of
Washington D.C. introduces herself by
saying "My life is like a movie: There's
adversity and then I overcome it." Another
girl from Texas is the daughter of Mexican
immigrants and her parents do not speak
English. One boy from California seemingly
has the weight of an entire Indian village
on him, as his father arranged for over
4,000 people to pray for his son. A boy
from New Jersey occasionally speaks in
robotic voices and will be forever known
for his creative facial expressions while
competing.
All the kids’ profiles (without
exception) are bright, charming, and
winning; when they begin to compete in the
Spelling Bee in Washington, you want all
of them to win. The suspense as they begin
to spell words that you've probably never
heard of is surprisingly acute; you hang
on every letter as they try to stave off
elimination. As they are eliminated, you
are right there with them, wanting to
reach out and console them. You may want
to strangle some of the parents involved
but none of the kids come across as
pretentious or unlikable. They are all
great kids, who for better or worse have
dedicated a significant portion of their
lives to spelling competitions.
It's a little disturbing (when you
think about it afterwards) how indicative
the movie is of the competitive nature of
American life – how we as a society can
take something that's fun and make it
stressful and super competitive. These
kids are under immense pressure while they
are competing and I felt myself wondering
"why?"
Still, the kids are so incredibly
wonderful that while I was occasionally
alarmed at how focused they were on
spelling competitions, I still wanted them
to do well. Spellbound is a wonderful
profile on a uniquely American event and
one of the most entertaining documentaries
in recent years.
Grade: A-
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