A precocious eleven-year-old girl, Akeelah Anderson, from south Los Angeles, is discovered to have a talent for words. In spite of the objections of her mother Wanda, Akeelah enters a spelling contest. Her gift takes her to compete in the National Spelling Bee, the most famous competition of its kind in the world. On the way, she is helped by a forthright, mysterious teacher, Dr. Larabee, and other... - skip ad - Genres: Drama and Kids/Family Running Time: 112 min. Release Date: April 28th, 2006 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG for some language. Distributor: Lions Gate Releasing Cast And Credits Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Keke Palmer, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal Directed by: Doug Atchison Produced by: Todd Wagner, Mark Cuban, Marc Butan

During the course of the half-dozen years it has taken Doug Atchison's "Akeelah and the Bee" to go from script to screen, that old schoolhouse standby known as the spelling bee suddenly became hot property, informing everything from the documentary "Spellbound" to the novel/film "Bee Season" to the hit Broadway musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

Arriving in that aftermath, Atchison's heartfelt drama about an 11-year-old black girl from South Central L.A. who expertly faces down the multisyllabics at the Scripps National Spelling Bee can't help but feel a bit played out despite its empowering message and nice performances.

Such subject matter would, back in the day, have made for a swell "ABC Afterschool Special," but as a significant moviegoing draw, suffice it to say the future isn't looking exactly pulchritudinous.

Effectively anchoring the picture is Keke Palmer's lovely lead performance as Akeelah Anderson, a bright, highly articulate kid who's a terror in Scrabble but an underachiever in the classroom.

Taken under the wing of the sternly professorial but soft-spoken Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), Akeelah ascends the spelling competition ladder leading to a hard-earned spot in the big event despite the objections of her hard-working, widowed mother (Angela Bassett), who would seem to have a bee in her bonnet.

Akeelah ultimately earns her seat in the Washington Hyatt Grand Ballroom, but will she go the distance to become a motivating force for her family, friends and general community at large? Word.

Adhering closely to the inspirational film playbook, Atchison hits all the essential emotional posts, but even if certain scenes have a weakness for the overly purposeful, this stuff can still click effectively with audiences, especially with an accomplished cast.

While Fishburne and Bassett, who worked together in "What's Love Got to Do With It," bring the required weight to their respective roles, the film does particularly well by the effervescent performances of its juvenile cast.

In addition to Palmer's bright work, young JR Villarreal demonstrates some natural comic timing as Javier, an easygoing spelling bee veteran from Woodland Hills who shows her the ropes.

Behind the scenes, M. David Mullen's photography is clean and crisp, while editor Glenn Farr ("The Right Stuff") orchestrates all that spelling quite efficaciously.