Review

Review Date: 8-June-03
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Spellbound (2003)

America has an odd attitude toward eggheads: when intellectual accomplishment is evidenced in adults, it's regarded with as much suspicion and discomfort as admiration, but when it crops up in kids, it's viewed as a sign that things are just as they should be and society is progressing well. Maybe that's because adults reach a point where they need to feel like they've made it and resent those who may upstage them at parties, high school reunions, and the workplace; whereas they don't feel threatened by children, who remain fragile, innocent, dependent, and awkward even if their IQ is north of 130. In any case, I think it's safe to say that you don't have to be an Ivy League graduate with a burning love of etymology to appreciate the Oscar-nominated documentary Spellbound, which follows the journey of eight smart kids from all over the US who compete in the National Spelling Bee. Alternately funny, discouraging, sweet, and gripping, their stories make for an excellent film to which anybody who ever had a dream, a goal, a parent, or a child can relate.

One of the fascinating things about Spellbound is how it illustrates that the kids (8th graders and younger) who make it through their city and regional spelling contests all the way to the national bee are not always the ones you would expect. Among the eight that director Jeffrey Blitz and producer Sean Welch chose as their subjects are a first generation Mexican-American girl from rural Texas whose father doesn't speak a word of English; a hyperkinetic little boy who's hilarious and adorable (mostly because he isn't yours); a dreamy young woman being raised by a single mother in a DC housing project; an average Jane whose jolly father runs a pub and whose mother has a heart of gold; and a brooding man-child from Missouri of the sort you might find hanging around the video arcade "up to no good." Then there are three more usual suspects: the perky, privileged daughter of a Connecticut couple, a wise and self-composed girl with encouraging Indian parents, and a rather colorless boy with hard-driving Indian parents, whose passionate grasping for and belief in Success and The American Dream are laughably cliché but strikingly heartfelt.

The first half of Spellbound introduces each of these kids in his or her home environment so that the viewer can get a good sense of their diverse backgrounds and can form an attachment to them, or at least become invested in their immediate future. (It's particularly amazing to hear about the amount of time they spent on preparing for the National Spelling Bee, a process which one parent likens to war and another to child abuse.) The second half of the movie follows the kids to Washington DC for the big contest, where they endure a grueling bombardment of impossible words along with 241 other youngsters from across the country, and where a single mistake means immediate disqualification. The last day of the event is televised live on ESPN, which may sound goofy until you see what a nail biter it is — especially when one of the kids you have come to know gets up under the hot lights and runs up against a word which, for all those hours of training, she or he doesn't recognize.

Spellbound unfolds at a smooth pace and doesn't waste time on fancy music, narration, or editing, because it doesn't have to (and a good thing, too, since Blitz and Welch practically financed the film by themselves). Capitalizing on the inherent appeal of bright adolescents and the drama of quest and competition, the movie is consistently engrossing and, at times, deeply suspenseful. You know, and the subjects all profess to know, that it's only a spelling bee and they're all to be commended just for getting there, but the movie's steady buildup makes it impossible to shake the feeling of importance that surrounds the event, or the horror that comes when the nasty little bell rings to signify an incorrect answer. Because the stories are so real, the principals are so young, and their lives are so full of potential (as well as a bit of baggage), the payoff to Spellbound is more intense than most movies that try to be dramatic and memorable. Blow for blow, minute by minute, this is the most fun and excitement you can have with a bunch of teens and tweens outside of a game of Quidditch — but unlike that sport, this movie is for everyone.

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.