Dir. Jeffrey Blitz
It follows eight kids (ages ranging from 8 to 12 I think) as they prepare and compete in the national spelling bee. These are all very smart kids, most of them small-town heroes for going to Washington. One girl had a parade given to her as a send-off. Another had a good luck sign up at the local Hooters. (Still not kidding.) You get to really know these kids with their young obsession. You get to see how the various parents help them�sometimes a little too much. One of the contestants is in such a rigorous training program I expected to see the first 12 year old to have a stress-induced coronary. You watch them compete. You will wonder at the words that are given to this people to spell. Medical terms, foreign terms, religious terms, old English (olde English?): anything seems to be fair game. I felt outrage when one of the 8 would get a medical term 5 syllables long and the next would be asked to spell �cat.� Okay, nobody actually got asked to spell �cat� but the unfairness was pretty close. You get to see ESPN covering the finals, because you just weren�t stressed enough.
I don�t think of myself as someone who likes documentaries. To me, the whole point of a movie is to spend two hours of your life getting away from the real world. I loved this one though. It was exciting and captivating. It was getting away from my life for a while and getting interested in other peoples. What a concept.
I rate it: Full Price
Harry Altmen as Speller
Angela Arenivar as Speller
Ted Brigham as Speller
April DeGideo as Speller
Neil Kadakia as Speller
Nupur Lala as Speller
Emily Stagg as Speller
Ashley White as Speller