The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Absolutely Fantastic

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The first must-see film of the year.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Wow. This was a really good movie. The only reason why I didn't give it ten stars is because I reserve ten stars for the movies I really, really love and am a fan of, and nine stars for something I think is pretty much best picture material. I can't say I felt that way about the film, but I still thought it was excellent and very worthwhile.The acting here is incredible. The women were intense and thoughtful, and it's always good to see these fine actress in almost anything, especially something this good. I've always thought Dakota Fanning was a superb actress for a juvenile, and this film really suits her acting talent,(far better than the flat, one-dimensional tween sci-fi dud 'Push')This film is basically a women's film, but gender should not bias the viewer. It's great entertainment with important, timeless messages about human rights and respect. this movie should be seen by everyone, especially young people.

I am a film buff, yet there are just a handful of films that blew me away emotionally at first watch. This is one of those films.I wasn't expecting this. I actually had gotten the DVD months ago and couldn't figure out why I hadn't seen it yet. I did not know the story, but I did like the cast and I had heard some good things. Even though I was a child at the time, that era has always fascinated and perplexed me. It's probably why my all time favorite TV series was "I'll Fly Away." This movie has a flawless cast. I was especially impressed with Dakota Fanning's continued development as an actress. But Jennifer Hudson and Sophie Okonedo were incandescent. Alicia Keys was a revelation in this film, though it took me a little while to warm up to her. And, Queen Latifah...well, this lady just seems to center everything.Movies to me are sometimes life-changing events. The ones that resonate the best are the ones that effectively give lessons about life.I guess if I mention that my all time favorite film is "A River Runs Through It," it might begin to explain why I instantly fell in love with this film. It has something profound to teach. And it does it with unforgettable imagery. Only time will tell if this film will stay with me like "River" did, but I suspect it will be a film I think about for quite some time.I have only watched the director's cut, so my comments are based on that, though I will go back and watch the theatrical version.This film truly is a gift.

This film is wonderful, exhilarating, joyful. The cast are all spectacularly talented, and this film is another of those 'secret classics' which don't get the Oscars but actually deserve them. Gina Prince-Bythewood, the woman director, has made an intensely sensitive film about women, and it ain't no chick flic, it is serious stuff. I was knocked out by the sheer talent of the actresses. An eye opener to me was the incredible Queen Latifah. Apparently she is some kind of 'hip hop queen', but I wouldn't know about that, preferring Bach myself. She also 'raps', and I am one of those people who does not like or understand what they call 'rapping' at all, so I am glad she spared us that in the film. I notice from her bio that she was a basketball star in high school. Now that I can well believe, as she has the same 'body confidence' that another basketball player, Barack Obama, has. The director made a feature film about basketball earlier, so maybe that is how she and Miss Hip Hop the Rapper came together. But this woman Queen Latifah is a major example of Something Else. She has super-star quality. Really, I wanted to just rush up and hug her, that is how wonderful I think she was. However, the finest job of acting in this film full of genius is to my mind undoubtedly that of Sophie Okonedo, who plays the character May Boatwright, whose older sister and protector is Queen Latifah. She portrays a girl so tormented by 'not being quite right in the head', and so over-sensitive that she bursts into tears at the slightest thing, that it is hard to believe she is acting. It is a poignant performance, expressing to perfection the desperation of such a person who knows there is something wrong with her but can do nothing about it. The third sister is played by Alicia Keys, in real life a talented musician as well, and she portrays an over-intense hard-as-nails young woman terrified of marital commitment. Into this family comes the now teenaged Dakota Fanning, 'running away from home' as it were. She is making some progress with her speaking. Instead of 80 percent of her words being mumbled it is now down to about 20 percent. If she could ever master speech so that everything she said was comprehensible and audible, she could become a major actress, as her acting abilities are coming along nicely, and she effortlessly dominates scenes as long as Queen Latifah is not around (who has a greater command of the camera). I must say however that Dakota Fanning looked very tired to me, and maybe she ought to take a few months off, as she could burn out if she doesn't watch it, having worked non-stop practically since she was in the womb (I'm amazed she didn't star in something as a foetus). As for the story, it is very moving and emotional, a study in human conflicts, traumas, and feelings. This is the kind of film that women make, whereas men prefer making films where everybody gets killed. There's a gender lesson there somewhere! In this film, not even hope gets killed. So that means there is still hope. Jennifer Hudson gives wonderful support as the character Rosaleen, who accompanies Dakota Fanning as she flees from her father to take refuge with these women who had once known her dead mother. This is a happy-sad story that tears and warms the heart at the same time. Any woman would love it, and even some men might like it in between all the crime movies and battle scenes which they normally watch, where the quality is so often judged quantitatively, i.e. by the body count or by the sizes of the explosions. Here the only quantities involved are the degrees of emotion, which are in the upper nineties at least.

Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah give interesting performances in this film.Surprisingly, Jennifer Hudson shows promise as a caregiver beaten up when she tries to register to vote in 1964 down south. This is not played up and pretty soon Hudson's role is entirely relegated to very little here. This is a major disappointment.When a 4 year old girl tragically kills her abused mother in a terrible accident, the girl at such a tender age can never truly understand what had happened that led to such an awful thing. Raised by an abusive, drunken father who was the same to her mother, the child finally runs away with her caregiver (Hudson) and the two flee to the home of Queen Latifah in South Carolina. After a while, it turns out that Latifah had cared for the girl's mother and that the latter had fled to Latifah's home when she ran away. The mother had returned after several months to get her daughter when the tragedy occurred. Wasn't the father held responsible for having a gun in the house?Latifah's home is painted in Pepto Bismol color. Can you imagine referring to house by that description? Too much begins to go on. A sister, April is already dead and May, emotionally unbalanced, soon joins April. June is frustrated and turns down the proposal of a lovely man. Latifah nicknames Hudson July. What are we playing a name by months game? Come on.The ending is riveting but by this time we're a little tired of all this. Bees on the farm love honey. This film is far from honey.