The Secret Life of Bee's Movie Review

My mother in law had the wonderful suggestion last night that my mother and I join her for a ladies night out to take in a movie. She had a movie in mind, The Secret Life of Bee's. "T" (my MIL) had read the book and told me that she thought I would love both the book and the movie. I have a tremendous love for southern set novels and movie's. This one was dead on.
The adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel ,"The Secret Life of Bees", stars Dakota Fanning as Lily, a fourteen-year-old growing up in a small southern town in 1964. She is haunted by memories of shooting & killing her mother when she was a toddler. She's been told her whole life that she killed her mother when she was 4. Lily lives with her emotionally distant and sometime violent father, played by Paul Bettany in a haunting performance.

Lily's best and only friend is their African-American housekeeper (Jennifer Hudson)RosaLeen. On the day the Civil Rights Act is signed into law, she accompanies Rosaleen into town so Rosaleen can register to vote. After local townfolks (who happen to be down right racist people) beat Rosaleen for attempting to register as a voter, and Lily's Dad has one to many violent arguments and emotional disconnects with Lily, she and the housekeeper set out to find the place written on the back of an image of a black Madonna among her mother's things. . That place turns out to be the home of the independent Boatwright sisters, a trio - Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys - who make a living producing honey.

There life is one of which was not the norm in the 60's. African American women living in a well to do house running a successful business. It's a home that is idyllic and self-sufficient and hidden from the world. It is a place that Lily says she needs to be...and will decide why after moving in with them. Lily soon learns about beekeeping, the black Madonna, life, hardship, struggle, and the power of freedom, strength and acceptance.

I was blown away at the performances of the ensemble cast. Each was expansive, convincing, inspirational and positively poetic in both the life in the 60's and the gut wrenching scenes. I was impressed at Fannings scenes which her well seasoned so early acting skills shined.

Of note is that the executive producer of the film was Jada Pinkett Smith and the producer Will Smith.
My MIL was right, I LOVED the film. LOVED. It was one of the best movies I have seen in some time. So good, the book was bought on my way home.
Bring a box of tissues. You will need them.


The Secret Life of Bees
Opened October 17, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 50 min.
PG-13
thematic material and some violence
Haunted by memories of her late mother, 14-year-old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) runs away with her friend and caregiver Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) to the South Carolina town that holds the key to her mother's past. There, Lily meets the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo), who take her in and teach her about beekeeping, honey and the Black Madonna.
Cast:
Dakota Fanning - Lily Owens
Jennifer Hudson - Rosaleen Daise
Queen Latifah - August Boatwright
Sophie Okonedo - May Boatwright
Alicia Keys - June Boatwright
Paul Bettany - T. Ray Owens
Tristan Wilds - Zachary Taylor
Hilarie Burton - Deborah Owens
Nate Parker - Neil
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Genres: Period Film, Drama, Coming-of-Age