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During a time of predjudice, a young girl suffers abuse from her father and is plagued with nightmares due to the guilt of earlier accidentally killing her mother. She soon escapes the clutches of her abusive father and rescues her friend and housekeeper from the clutches of the law whom had just recently beaten her up due to predjudice and hatred. Together they run far away to a house where they find peace and protection and where the girl find answers to questions that have haunted her regarding her mother, and where they both found a newfound life of security amidst a family of sisters who cares for bees. This movie is one that most everyone would love to see. It is filled with every emotion, including that of being brave, love, joy, peace, fear, anger, romance, predjudice, pride and victory. This movie was intelligently put together and well thought-out. All of its actors were excellent in playing their roles. See for yourself and you will agree. I highly recommend viewing it!Read full review
This is a fantastic film....i would say it is really a love story, a love that is born out of tragedy...a film with richly textured emotions and very nicely delivered...i would recommend this film to anyone who loves drama at its finest...this movie is so richly endowed with all the great qualities that make a movie Fantastic!....and Dakota Fanning is fabulous in her very powerful role...all the cast members....especially Queen Latifah...is just sublime in this picture!...and Sophie Okonedo so nailed a part that was so utterly transfixing and even ethereal....this is the kind of film that people shoot for, but don't quite make the mark, until the person of Gina Prince-Bythewood got her hands on this fabulous story about the transcending power of love!! So Very Remarkable!..i hope she will put out another movie...and use the same talent and cast of these truly great artists!!...Long may this Jewell be treasured!..brian musgrave, Fresno, Ca. (an avid fan of great drama and films!)Read full review
Lily Owens aka Dakota Fanning is the bee charmer in The Secret Life of Bees. Not really but close. Fanning plays the lead Lily with wide-eyed amazement circa a whole lots of child actors before her- we get it your cute! Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and Sophie Okonedo also star in this slow but powerful movie based on the best-selling book (of the same name) by Sue Monk Kidd. No spoilers here but Purple Honey and pure passion for life. This movie will make you laugh and make you cry. Sophie Okonedo stands out as the troubled May who has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Queen Latifah shines and Alicia Keys is wonderful. Jennifer Hudson is great but Dakota Fanning crying in this movie makes you wonder-- since the tears seem so real-- what a great adult actress she may one day become- this movie puts her one step closer. The next time you see a bee buzzing around a magical flower- wonder about their secret life- there is symbolism in their somewhere!Read full review
Features Actors:Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah & Tristan Wilds. Running Time: 110 Min. Rating: PG-13 In 1964 South Carolina, 14-year-old Lily (Dakota Fanning, War of the Worlds) lives with her abusive father (Paul Bettany, A Beautiful Mind) and the memory of a tragic accident that took her mother away. When their housekeeper Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls) is severely beaten on her way to register to vote, Lily rescues her and the pair run away. Guided by a scrap of paper left by her mother, they end up at the bright pink house of the Boatwright sisters—May (Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda), June (Alicia Keys, The Nanny Diaries), and August (Queen Latifah, Last Holiday)—who run a local honey farm. While Rosaleen bonds with the emotionally fragile May, Lily earns their keep by helping August with the bees. She grows fond of fellow worker Zach (Tristan Wilds, The Wire), a boy who dreams of defying racial expectations by someday becoming a lawyer. But when he and Lily leave the safety of the farm to see a movie together, they get a nasty reminder that the world outside is a dangerous place. The Secret Life of Bees oozes with symbolism as thick as August's honey. Lily and Rosaleen blossom and grow like their namesake flowers—flowers like the ones that attract the bees kept by sisters named for the spring and summer months when bees are most productive. As for those title insects—so resourceful, industrious, dangerous, and fragile—bees come to stand in the story for everything from individual characters to the Civil Rights movement itself. Within the safety of their bright pink hive, Lily, Rosaleen, and the Boatwright women live and work in close community. Outside, however, there is danger from angry parents and racist Southerners who'd rather swat than get stung by change. Maternal imagery pops up everywhere, too, underscoring Lily's search for the truth about her mother—on honey labels, as a carved wooden statue, and in the relationships forged between Lily and her surrogate mothers. The Secret Life of Bees is an uplifting tale of empowerment and self-determination, but it treads some well-worn ground. Films set against the backdrop of the struggle for civil rights carry an important message, but they also carry dramatic baggage that makes it hard to evaluate each on their own merit. The same is true of coming-of-age stories. Fall in love all over with the movie version of Sue Monk Kidd's Secret life of Bees book.If you love this book you'll love to watch it come alive!Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)Read full review
(**** out of ****) Much like the precious book, this book remains accurate to the time period and is full of excellent examples. It's about true love and acceptance no matter the color of one's skin, finding out who you are and your purpose in life, not to be afraid, even in the face of adversity. Queen Latifah plays August, who is my favorite character in the entire film. She is such a beautiful, sagely, and maternal character that you fall in love with her honey-sweetness and her encouraging ways. This film also takes place during a very intreiguing part of history and I am glad to say I can look upon this film and be proud of where we have come.
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