OK, I'm A Sap...

I know I'm on the late train...I avoided seeing "Akeelah and the Bee" forever, cause if you've been paying attention to this blog at all, you know I have a high aversion toward stand and deliver/against all odds type films. I find them very formulaic, and ultimately very, very, boring.

I also kinda avoid Angela Bassett; one more film of her being strong jawed and strong willed and I think I'm gonna scream. A friend's kids were watching it, so I started watching it too...

Oh my God. I must have cried 10 times, trying to hide it all the while cause I felt like an idiot. The relationship between Laurence Fishburne and Akeelah was soooo sweet, and I loved Laurence being quiet and gentle-it didn't seem affected at all. That little girl didn't get on my nerves even once (as some kids in movies do), and she kinda reminded me of myself at that age-I was a nerd who hung out with the cool folks-don't ask me how that happened.

And guess what? Angela came across as a real mom with real life child rearing issues, and only got strong jawed once or twice...I loved everything about this movie; how the community was proud of her and what she represented, how the mom and daughter got to really see each other as people for the first time, how Akeelah and her coach healed each other just by being able to talk about their hurts, and how in life it's not always about the win, but the journey to get there.