by SARAH ROWLAND

Many of you are probably all spelled out at this point. And why wouldn’t you be? Between 2002’s Spellbound and the last year’s Bee Season, the last thing you need is anymore f-i-l-m-s about spelling contests.

But if you’ve got any bored nieces, daughters, neighbours’ kids (preferably age eight to 12) kicking around, don’t discount Akeelah and the Bee as a movie option. Despite its phonetic content, it’s a genuinely sweet family film. Does it possess an ounce of originality? No. But formulaic fare, if done right, isn’t so bad once in a while.

Here we have the feel-good ghetto story of Akeelah (Keke Palmer), a painfully shy 11-year-old who can spell like nobody’s business. But because she attends a poorly funded school in the slums, and has an overworked single mom (Angela Bassett) who’s too tired to encourage her, Akeelah has never put her gift to the test. That is until Principal Welch (Curtis Armstrong) gets wind of her way with words. He’s in desperate need of any kind of good publicity so he can get some well-needed funding to clean up the school grounds.

It’s pretty easy to guess what happens next: Welch pushes the reluctant brainiac to enter a local spelling bee. And who happens to be in the audience that day but none other than Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), a wordsmith with a Ph.D. and a sad past. With his coaching, he thinks Akeelah can go all the way to the nationals. And before you know it, all of South L.A. is rooting for her—even the gangsters!

Sounds like it could be a true story, no? Well, it’s not and we know this because (a) I read the press kit and (b) the bad kids aren’t really that bad, and the preppy rich kids are a little too down-to-earth. But what makes up for these watered-down stereotypes are the adult performances, inspiring message and the charming Palmer, who we can expect to see a lot more of in the future. She’s exquisitely beautiful and she’s 12, which means (if history is any indication) the preteen beauty is only two years away from landing a recording contract, followed by called-off engagements and ensuing eating disorders. Can’t wait.

Akeelah and the Bee opens Friday, April 28

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