This documentary follows several regional winners through the national spelling bee. The film makers don't talk but simply allow you to hear from the winners and their families.
Not long after I began watching this documentary, I couldn't help but feel I've seen it before. That's because the film seems to have perhaps been the inspiration for the fictional film AKEELAH AND THE BEE--as many of the same types of kids and families are repeated. In particular, Akeelah and her mom seem very similar to the champion from the District of Columbia and the hard-driving Indian-American family seems so much like the hard-driving family in the documentary. Perhaps these parallels were unconscious, but it just seemed a lot like someone decided to re-write and fictionalize this film from 2002. Now this isn't bad, as both are very interesting films and they end very, very differently.
However, I've got to admit that this film probably has a much smaller audience than AKEELAH, as many folks just won't find SPELLBOUND that interesting--after all, the overall theme is kids spelling! Still, I liked it and found myself pulled into some of the stories and found it to be an interesting sociological and psychological portrait. In particular, I found the one child very interesting from a psychological point of view, as he seemed to have many of the characteristics of a child with Asperger's syndrome. Plus, it was also very interesting that most of the finalists appeared to be of Indian or Pakistani heritage.
Overall, mildly interesting and worth seeing but not one of the truly great documentaries. And, if I could only see one film, I'd recommend AKEELAH. Even though it's all fantasy, it is more interesting and high-stress than real life!
Not long after I began watching this documentary, I couldn't help but feel I've seen it before. That's because the film seems to have perhaps been the inspiration for the fictional film AKEELAH AND THE BEE--as many of the same types of kids and families are repeated. In particular, Akeelah and her mom seem very similar to the champion from the District of Columbia and the hard-driving Indian-American family seems so much like the hard-driving family in the documentary. Perhaps these parallels were unconscious, but it just seemed a lot like someone decided to re-write and fictionalize this film from 2002. Now this isn't bad, as both are very interesting films and they end very, very differently.
However, I've got to admit that this film probably has a much smaller audience than AKEELAH, as many folks just won't find SPELLBOUND that interesting--after all, the overall theme is kids spelling! Still, I liked it and found myself pulled into some of the stories and found it to be an interesting sociological and psychological portrait. In particular, I found the one child very interesting from a psychological point of view, as he seemed to have many of the characteristics of a child with Asperger's syndrome. Plus, it was also very interesting that most of the finalists appeared to be of Indian or Pakistani heritage.
Overall, mildly interesting and worth seeing but not one of the truly great documentaries. And, if I could only see one film, I'd recommend AKEELAH. Even though it's all fantasy, it is more interesting and high-stress than real life!