Genre: Drama
Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Cast: Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, Max Minghella, Kate Bosworth
RunTime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Intimate Scenes)
Official Website: http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/beeseason/

Synopsis:

Eliza Naumann (Flora Cross) has no reason to believe she is anything but ordinary. Her father Saul (Richard Gere), a beloved university professor, dotes on her talented elder brother Aaron (Max Minghella). Her scientist mother, Miriam (Juliette Binoche), seems consumed by her career. When a spelling bee threatens to reaffirm her mediocrity, Eliza amazes everyone: she wins. Her newfound gift garners an invitation not only to the national competition, but an entrée into the world of words and Jewish mysticism that have so long captivated her father's imagination. But Eliza's unexpected success hurls the Naumann family dynamic into a tailspin, long-held secrets emerge and she is forced to depend upon her own divination to hold the family together. "Bee Season" is based on the nationally best selling Myla Goldberg novel of the same name.

Movie Review:

Bee Season, based on a novel of the same name, is about America’s spelling bee. It’s also about the relationships within the Naumann family, and their individual journeys to attain spiritual wholeness and peace within themselves.

The movie first paints a picture of a seemingly normal, and atypical American Jewish family; Saul (Richard Gere), the head of the family and an unassuming professor, Miriam (Juliette Binoche), his soft-spoken wife, Eliza (Flora Cross), a precocious sixth grader who craves for her father’s attention, and Aaron (Max Minghella), a well-mannered teenager who dotes on his sister.

Things begin to come to the surface indirectly due to Eliza’s win at the district spelling bee. As Saul shifts his attention completely from Aaron to Eliza, who at first lurks completely in the shadow of Aaron, we come to realize the brunt and unconscious power of Saul’s control over his children, and soon after, his wife.

Being staunchly Jewish, Saul wishes to contact on a higher level with God, which he feels can be accomplished through Eliza’s ability to see and feel words. Because of his personal religious motive, he subsequently spends his time obsessively drilling Eliza with tests, and spelling quizzes, and completely ignores Aaron.

Due to the lack of paternal guidance (or control, to be more exact), Aaron finds himself questioning Judaism, and inevitably looks to other religions for an actual sense of belonging. In the end, he chooses Hinduism, and symbolically, turns away from Judaism and thus, his father.

On the other hand, indirectly because of Saul’s concentrated attention on his children, Miriam’s mental health takes a dangerous downward spiral. A neurotic and troubled kleptomaniac, she has spent years collecting knickknacks from homes that she has broken into, in a spiritual bid to find pieces, literally, to complete herself.

Bee Season is part fantasy, part documentary, part thriller, depending on whose story is being focused on. The team does a fine job at putting together these different elements of the movie cohesively and seamlessly, and therefore, Bee Season retains a consistent unique charm throughout.

Here, the adult actors outshine their younger counterparts by miles. Both Gere and Binoche play their roles with exceptional sensitivity and maturity. Gere as usual, has a captivating and magnetic presence, regardless of whether he’s playing a professor, lawyer, anything. Binoche plays the damaged and desperate Miriam with such honesty that it’s really not hard to feel sorry for the lady. However, keep an eye out for relatively unknown and talented Minghella, who is undermined here, and honestly deserves more screen-time in the movie. Sadly, Flora Cross’s performance falls short of meeting the criteria. At times where a viewer expects more emotions and expressions, she falls flat on delivery. At times, her acting feels a little stilted and muted, but nonetheless, a good attempt for a child actor.

The music is often suspenseful and haunting, but at times, too loud to the point where it overshadows the movie. However, the score is brilliantly done, and adds layers to the tension in certain pivotal scenes.

Bee Season is an enjoyable and realistic movie about the search for one’s identity and belonging, but only so. It is not remarkable or groundbreaking, but good enough to warrant a second watching. However, I must say it is definitely an awesome movie for a friends’ or family gathering.

Movie Rating:

(An E-N-J-O-Y-A-B-L-E movie with much heart and soul)

Review by Casandra Wong