Movie Ratings That Actually Work    Become a Member

"One of the 50 Coolest Websites...they simply tell it like it is" - TIME

Akeelah and the Bee | 2006 | PG | - 1.2.3

An 11-year-old girl (Keke Palmer) attending an inner-city school where it isn't cool to be a "brainiac," has a knack for spelling. When her principal (Curtis Armstrong) sees her talent, he and a colleague (Laurence Fishburne) try to convince her to participate in a regional spelling bee. Also with Angela Bassett, and J.R. Villarreal. Directed by Doug Atchison. [1:52]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - A boy kisses a girl on the cheek and a girl kisses a boy on the cheek. A girl tells another girl that a boy is "hot." A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage in several scenes.

VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - Two girls threaten and tease another girl, and they shove her and tussle.
 A woman grabs her daughter's arm and yells at her, a man and a woman yell at a girl in several scenes, a woman yells at her son when he is brought home by the police, and a man yells at his son and pressures him about winning a competition.
 We hear that a man was shot to death, and we hear that a girl died from an illness.
 A character says, "I may puke."

LANGUAGE 3 - 3 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms (1 mild), 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (stupid, turd juggler).

SUBSTANCE USE - A man drinks alcohol and a woman smokes a cigarette.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Death of a parent, death of a child, murder, intelligence, not fitting in, winning/losing, confidence, goals, loneliness, grief, parental pressure, socioeconomic differences, inadequacy, living vicariously through your children, separation/divorce, disappointment, publicity, celebrity, sexual harassment, cheating, racism.

MESSAGE - Convincing yourself that you are going to fail is a self-fulfilling prophecy and brings about failure.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $1/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

Know when new reviews are published
We will never sell or share your email address with anybody and you can unsubscribe at any time

You're all set! Please check your email for confirmation.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This