★★★½ Akeelah And The Bee

[Gino: 3.5, TwoShoes: 3.0]

Gino says: "Let me first clearly state that this is probably the sappiest movie that will ever get a 3.5 star greenlight from me: seeing the trailer, I was worried that it would be a little bit too "polished" in a hollywood way, and it definitely was. And Angela Bassett seemed mis-cast and just not very good in this. Now having said that, I found myself smiling through much of the film, so I guess I liked it. And Akeelah (or the actress playing her) was really cute and charming. Some unintentional humor with Laurence Fishburne as a non-Morpheous but still zen-master-like mentor, and Curtis Armstrong as the Principal -- because I just kept thinking This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is? But in the end a good family film I think."