11-year-old Akeelah Anderson has a way with words. After winning her schoolwide spelling bee, she decides to enter the competition, despite her classmates' derision and the antipathy of her mother Tanya. Thanks to the efforts of her teacher Dr. Larabee, she reaches the finals. As she gets to know her fellow competitors, Akeelah realizes that coming first isn't everything in life.
Perseverance
Hard Work
Courage
Self-DiscoveryRelationships
Mentorship
Family
Friendship
Community
Coming of Age
Underdog StoryRatings
IMDb7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes86%
MMetacritic72/100
Ratings
IMDb7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes86%
MMetacritic72/100
Cast
Keke Palmer
Akeelah Anderson
Laurence Fishburne
Dr. Larabee
Angela Bassett
Tanya Anderson
Curtis Armstrong
Mr. Welch
J.R. Villarreal
Javier
Directed by Doug Atchison
