Set in the 1960s, "The Secret Life of Bees" is a fairly faithful adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel of the same name. Growing up motherless and dominated by a harsh, cold father, 13-year-old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) has no one who cares for her except her black nanny, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson.) When Rosaleen pours snuff juice on the shoes of a couple of racists who harass her, she is beaten and hospitalized, and Lily springs her out. They head for Tiberon, South Carolina, a town written on on of Lily's few mother's possessions. They hitch a ride there, and go to a house occupied by the Boatwrights, a group of beekeeping sisters Lily has reason to believe knew her mother.
Lily concocts a story about her father dying, afraid that the Boatwrights will contact him if she tells the truth. The eldest of the sisters, August (Queen Latifah,) welcomes the two with open arms into her and her sister's home. Lily does not ask April right away about her mother, but spends some time getting acquainted with her new surroundings. The Boatwrights are an eccentric trio.
May (Sophie Okonedo) the most unstable sister, is consumed in everyone else's suffering. She spends hours by her 'wailing wall,' writing things that depress her onto slides of paper and sticking them in between the stones. June (Alicia Keys,) who is the least accepting of Lily's arrival, refuses to marry her love interest Neil, but cannot seem to leave him either.
April teaches Lily the tricks of beekeeping, and she and Rosaleen fit comfortably in their new life. Lily even becomes secretly involved with Zach, a black boy her age. Slowly, and with the Boatwright's help, she begins to heal. One fateful night, however, her father tracks her down, and she must fight for everything she fought so hard to obtain.
Having read the book on which this film is based on, I will most likely compare the two. I try not to be a the-novel-was-so-much-better critic, as books and movies are vastly different. The film, actually, is very true to the original. I do, however, have some complaints to point out. First of all, it is not 'racist,' as Owen Gleiberman claimed, but August seems a bit unrealistically understanding. She is the least developed of the sisters. Although Queen Latifah does a good job portraying her, August is so incredibly kind and nurturing, and seems to have little thought for her interests, that she seems one-dimensional. I can, however, keep a suspension of disbelief, being that by caring for a mentally ill sister she could have learned to put her own feelings aside.
The other aspect I disliked actually compares it to the book, which I tried not to do. Lily's conversation with her father at the end of the movie has been changed, in a and in a way that I feel undermines much of the effectiveness. I will not spoil it for you, but I thought the scene in the book was one of the most moving, and during the movie I found myself wishing it had not been trifled with.
That aside, for the most part I liked it. The acting was very good and the screenplay remained true to the characters. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the novel. Although some aspects annoyed me, all in all I felt it was a fine film. (Rated PG-13)
Lily concocts a story about her father dying, afraid that the Boatwrights will contact him if she tells the truth. The eldest of the sisters, August (Queen Latifah,) welcomes the two with open arms into her and her sister's home. Lily does not ask April right away about her mother, but spends some time getting acquainted with her new surroundings. The Boatwrights are an eccentric trio.
May (Sophie Okonedo) the most unstable sister, is consumed in everyone else's suffering. She spends hours by her 'wailing wall,' writing things that depress her onto slides of paper and sticking them in between the stones. June (Alicia Keys,) who is the least accepting of Lily's arrival, refuses to marry her love interest Neil, but cannot seem to leave him either.
April teaches Lily the tricks of beekeeping, and she and Rosaleen fit comfortably in their new life. Lily even becomes secretly involved with Zach, a black boy her age. Slowly, and with the Boatwright's help, she begins to heal. One fateful night, however, her father tracks her down, and she must fight for everything she fought so hard to obtain.
Having read the book on which this film is based on, I will most likely compare the two. I try not to be a the-novel-was-so-much-better critic, as books and movies are vastly different. The film, actually, is very true to the original. I do, however, have some complaints to point out. First of all, it is not 'racist,' as Owen Gleiberman claimed, but August seems a bit unrealistically understanding. She is the least developed of the sisters. Although Queen Latifah does a good job portraying her, August is so incredibly kind and nurturing, and seems to have little thought for her interests, that she seems one-dimensional. I can, however, keep a suspension of disbelief, being that by caring for a mentally ill sister she could have learned to put her own feelings aside.
The other aspect I disliked actually compares it to the book, which I tried not to do. Lily's conversation with her father at the end of the movie has been changed, in a and in a way that I feel undermines much of the effectiveness. I will not spoil it for you, but I thought the scene in the book was one of the most moving, and during the movie I found myself wishing it had not been trifled with.
That aside, for the most part I liked it. The acting was very good and the screenplay remained true to the characters. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the novel. Although some aspects annoyed me, all in all I felt it was a fine film. (Rated PG-13)
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