The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

I was late finding this movie and it is indeed a 'find'. Part produced by rapper/actor Will Smith (Pursuit of Happiness '06), it tells the story of Lily, a troubled white teenager living with her anger filled father T.Ray - very well played by UK actor Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind '01). After a rather harrowing opening, Lily's reached the stage where she can't take any more emotional torment from her father and runs away with their Negro housekeeper. This leads to several complications. Being set in 1964, a white girl traveling with a black through red-neck South Carolina proves an incendiary combination.A remarkably mature performance by Dakota Fanning brings strong dynamics to her inwards searching character (let's hope Hollywood doesn't throw this fine actress away with mediocre roles). Director and real life adoptee Gina Prince-Bytherwood ('Beyond The Lights' '14) injects elements of personal soul searching into her screenplay adaptation of Sue Monk Kid's 2001 novel. Gina had suffered through a search for her own biological birth mother that ended with a less than satisfactory outcome. She seems the right director for this at-times intense story. For some, there could be the odd situation that may feel a little too set-up - also brief moments where it perhaps strays into coyness but, this could also serve as a welcome break for many viewers. By and large it remains on target as it moves towards its necessary conclusion. The curious cast of assorted American and British female singer/songwriters namely: Queen Latifah ~ Alicia Keys ~ Sophie Okenedo and actress/Spokesperson Jennifer Hudson all work well together. A convincing portrayal is also given by actor/filmmaker Neil Parker (Birth of a Nation '16). Netherlands born director of photography Rogier Stoffers (Disturbia '07) creates a fine sense of personal involvement and treats us to some glowing visuals. Mark Isham keeps the music in check - the sound track also includes several appealing songs that fit very nicely into the story without feeling like they were added for padding. It also features a soul stirring rendition of "Amazing Grace" played on Cello which most unfortunately is not played to its conclusion. Sigh! For those who enjoy a close look into the hearts of others that we share this sometimes sorry world with, then it could be just the right movie for you. A minor draw back at times, could be some of the broad South Carolina accents. This winner of various awards also allows us a welcome look into the world of honey bees. Well worth viewing or buying...

This movie just misses 10/10 for me. It's a beautiful story, the movie is stunningly shot and all the actors are brilliant, especially Sophie Okonedo. I'm docking a point because it centres Dakota Fanning's character, Lily, a young white girl, instead of centring the stories of women of colour, which is crucial for a film exploring issues of race during the civil rights movement. In all other respects, however, this film is fantastic. The inevitable violence that any civil rights story has is counterpointed by the safe, secret world which August, May, and June create. Beekeeping acts as a metaphor for female solidarity. I would definitely recommend this film.

OK, before saying anything, I have to clarify that I love Dakota Faning and I really like the cast on the movie but honestly the movie is not good at all, actually I'm sorry but the movie was BAD! I felt that Dakota was overacting in general, and the whole story is so hackneyed that at some points is boring and you just want the movie to end! I was thinking the whole time what Dakota was thinking when she said yes to be in the movie, the directing seems very amateur, the story was old, not funny, and barely entertained. My advice, don't watch it, or if you really want to watch it, don't expect ANYTHING great, then, you wont be disappointed.

The Secret Life of Bees, an adaptation of the novel written by Sue Monk Kid, begins with a young Lily Owens sitting in the shadows at the bottom of a bedroom closet watching a woman shove stuff into the suitcase lying on the bed in a dimly lit room. Suddenly yelling booms from another room and a man barges through the doorway. The man starts shoving the woman around and she pulls out a gun. He takes it out of her hands and onto the floor. The gun slides across the floor towards the closet, and the woman reaches for it. Lily holds the gun out it front of her and a bang goes off along with a black screen. Lily has no other personal memories of her mother. Since that day, Lily has lived a life of abuse from her father. The only comforting voice she hears comes from Rosaleen, her housekeeper that she can always confide in. The two of them become inseparable through their journey to a town that Lily believes her mother visited. Lily keeps high faith that her mother really had been here, and set out to find out who her mother really was. The two companions find that Lily's mom's belongings, more specifically, a picture, lead them to the house belonging to August Boatwright and her two sisters, May and June. The three sisters take in Lily and Rosaleen with reluctance from June but, in return the two guests help cook and keep the bees. Slowly Lily builds herself a family and the bonds that come along with it. Lily learns about her mother's past with help from her newly found "mothers", showing us all how to reaching out will always bring something back to us.The movie truly shows the meaning of "family". Not the standard television commercial 4 people living in a house family, but a group of people that help each other through everything. A family that shows through the way that they care for one another, the way they just have everyone's best intentions at heart. A family made up of white and blacks in a time where it was not accepted. A family made up of a 14 year old girl and her mothers.