| SPELLBOUND |
 2002 - USADirector:
Jeff Blitz - Reviewed by Vickie
Well, me, for starters, but that's only because I've tuned in for the finals of the U.S. National Spelling Bee every year they've been televised, and I know what kind of eclectic, colorful and (occasionally) bizarre personalities the filmmakers would, no doubt, be able to feature. Shot in 1999, the film tracks the progress of eight champion spellers from across the United States, as they work their way through regional finals en route to the grand-daddy of spelling competitions in Washington, D.C. The kids vary in age, as well as economic, social and ethnic backgrounds. There's Ted, a lumbering kid from Texas who likes, ahem, explosives and shooting things, and Harry, a must-be-seen-to-be-fully-appreciated frenetic, hyperactive boy from a middle-class family on the East Coast. Wealthy Emily squeezes spelling practice in between horseback riding lessons, while Ashley studies on the train between home and school, and Angela hopes to make her Mexican-immigrant parents proud by raising to the top, spelling words in a language they don't speak. And Neil has the benefit of a grandfather in India who pays 1000 worshippers to chant a "good luck" prayer as he competes. Spellbound, which kind of plays like a Christopher Guest-ish mockumentary at times (witness grandma and grandpa in their rockers talking about Mexicans, for example), is as gripping and entertaining an experience as any sporting event or glorified awards show. People in the theater were on the edge of their seats in anticipation as competitors struggled over difficult words or paused to ponder root origins. There were collective sighs of relief as the profiled children made it through one round after another, and equally emotional gasps of horror when any of them were eliminated. I half expected a betting pool to break out. I'm not going to tell you who won (although, an Internet search would easily yield that information if you're desperate), but it doesn't really matter, anyway. As the film so cleverly demonstrates, for most of these kids it's the experience they'll treasure, not necessarily their name on a trophy. The film also picked up distribution while at the Toronto Film Festival, so it should be making its way to a screen near you eventually. Very C-O-O-L. |
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Who'da thunk a documentary about children who know how to spell big,
multi-syllabic words would be fascinating, fun and fan-freakin'-tastic?
