The Secret Life Of Bees: Movie Review

The Secret Life Of Bees: Movie Review

Rating 4/10
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo
Director: Gina Prince Bythewood
1964 South Carolina.
Against a backdrop of the civil rights movement, 14-year-old Lily Owens (Fanning) runs away from an abusive father T Ray (Paul Bettany) taking with her the family's caregiver Rosaleen (Hudson).
But Lily is running away from the fact she's haunted by the death of her late mother whom she accidentally shot when she was young while her parents were arguing.
Lily and Rosaleen end up on the doorstep of the honey producing family, the Boatwrights - a trio of sisters; August, the matriarch (Queen Latifah), the ever so fragile May (Sophie Okonedo) and the belligerent June (Alicia Keys).
Within days Lily's introduced into their world - and taught how to keep bees.
But little does she know that in that house where she ended up, lies a secret which will change her life forever&.
Based on the best selling book by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees is unashamedly Sunday afternoon chick flick material.
It dances a fine line between outright schmaltz and tear jerker and is clearly pitching for a certain demographic.
While the film's not an unmitigated disaster by any stretch of the imagination, it is slow to get to where the narrative wants and is lumbered with some horrendously clunky dialogue and a clear case of sledge hammer foreshadowing.
When it's revealed the ever so fragile May is one half of twins and the second died, and she's described as a soul split in two, it's quite obvious (spoiler alert) May's not going to see the end of this film.
And that's half the problem with Bees - at times, its lazy characterization (be it either the flaw of the script or the director) makes you feel like you're watching a terribly clichéd Sunday afternoon drama pitched for the Hallmark Generation.
However, there is one saving grace.
Dakota Fanning.
Her performance as the deeply troubled, permanently haunted Lily is astonishing - and shows once again, that when she's part of an ensemble, she clearly blows everyone else off the screen. She clearly has a long way to go on her Hollywood journey - and if all her performances are as good as this one, she'll be collecting awards soon.
Unfortunately though it's not enough to lift The Secret Life of Bees out of the saccharine mire that is chick flick material - sometimes, you feel sick when you devour too much sugary stuff.

The Secret Life of Bees is one of those times.