“Good movie” The actresses in this movie make it all worth watching. I do not think the Queen gets enough respect for her acting and Jennifer Hudson will one day be more known as an actress than a singer. Fanning rocks this movie. I highly recommend it.
Product Description Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 02/03/2009 Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Pg13 Headed by an all-star cast of women, The Secret Life of Bees is the heartwarming and well-told story of a young girl who finds love and acceptance from a trio of independent sisters. The Secret Life of Bees is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd and centers around the plight of 14-year-old Lily (Dakota Fanning). Assuming the burden for her mother’s premature death, she has a precarious relationship with her abusive father T. Ray (Paul Bettany). Lily’s only friend is her caregiver Rosaleen (Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson). Set in South Carolina in 1964, when civil rights wasn’t a given, Rosaleen’s life is threatened by racists who’d just as soon see her dead than exercise her right to vote. Lily runs away with her to a town she believes may hold the secrets of her mother’s life. There the pair meet the Boatwright sisters August (Queen Latifah), June (Alicia Keys) and May (Sophie Okonedo)–who produce the area’s famous Black Madonna honey. They eventually provide Lily with the unconditional love she never felt she had and also show Rosaleen that being a black woman in the South doesn’t mean she can’t have a sense of worth. The Secret Life of Bees doesn’t try to pass itself off as a historical documentation of race relations in the 1960s. But the fictional slice of life still resonates because of the feelings of injustice that it stirs up. Though the film is written to show the disparity between blacks and whites, there is always a strong sense of hope, thanks to the lead actresses who bring empathy and dignity to their roles. Hudson exhibits some of the same quiet grace that Regina Taylor brought to her role as the family housekeeper in the superb TV series I’ll Fly Away. Latifah has the part of wise matriarch down pat, even when she’s playing a sister rather than a mother. And it’s clear that Fanning is making a seamless transition from kid to young adult roles. Whether she’s giving an impassioned monologue or listening thoughtfully, Fanning brings nuance and intelligence to her role. –Jae-Ha Kim Beyond The Secret Life of Bees
Stills from The Secret Life of Bees (Click for larger image)
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A surprisingly deep and moving movie experience…  I’ll admit that I really thought I was going to hate this movie. It just looked like a cheap attempt at real sentiment and so I wrote the whole film off before my wife insisted that we sit down and watch it. What I got was not what I expected. True, the film has its sore spots, but overall it is far more impressive, connected and emotionally invested than I initially gave it credit for. With a powerful performance by Dakota Fanning and a pure heart at its center, `The Secret Life of Bees’ is far more than a cheap attempt and sentiment as I once labeled it. The film takes place in 1964 South Carolina, where a young girl named Lily struggles to forgive herself for her past mistakes. When a young child she caused an accident that took her mother’s life and left her with a disgruntled and ignorant father who sees her as nothing more than a reminder of what he used to have. With her caregiver Rosaleen in toe, Lily runs away from home to find herself by finding the memory of her mother. What she finds are the Boatwright sisters, three strong black women who make famous honey. These sisters give Lily and Rosaleen a place to stay and a job to do and eventually shower them with the feelings of self-worth they so desire. I have never read the novel, but I have read that changes were made. I am not apposed to this as long as it carries the same initial vision of the author, or at least makes good on creating an entirely new vision. From what I hear, `The Secret Life of Bees’ is done proud with this adaptation. The acting is where the film lives and dies, which is to be expected with such a strong character piece. For the most part the acting is very good, which is why this film shocked me in such a good way. When you have a cast that consists of three singers, a child star trying to find her path in the world of teen cinema, and an actress who has yet to really prove herself then you don’t really have a cast that screams “we are going to be amazing”. So, let’s just go down the list, starting with the most obvious. Dakota Fanning is flawless here. She really captures every emotion this young girl is experiencing and delivers every line, every movement with such rich chemistry and connection. I was astounded by her depth because it wasn’t an oddly misplaced maturity but a naturally progressive sense of understanding. Queen Latifah has proven she can handle the big screen, and handle it she does; very well. Alicia Keys is first and foremost a singer, and a great one at that; but she proves here that she can handle some acting as well. She’s certainly not as seasoned as some of the rest here, but she has potential to become very, very good. Jennifer Hudson has an Oscar for singing very well. Sadly, she isn’t the most talented actress. She delivers `Effi light’ here, giving us practically the same character just without the singing; so she fades away fast. I really liked Sophie Okonedo in `Hotel Rwanda’, but one performance is not enough to make you great. Here she is the weakest link with her amateurish portrayal of the mentally unstable sister. She had moments that felt inspired, but overall she was rather uneven. With a film like this, and really any film, you have to take the bad with the good, and when you do that you are left with a very well done and moving film experience. It’s not perfect, but it is memorable and engrossing and definitely tear-jerker quality entertainment. If you have children, especially daughters, than beware for this will make you shed many tears…. heartwarming |
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