![]() ![]() sponsored by the Scripps-Howard newspapers. SPELLBOUND is a delightful documentary about the 1999 National Spelling Bee competition in Washington D.C. You wouldn’t expect to come away with a beaming patriotic pride in the United States from a documentary about a spelling bee, but that’s exactly what may happen to you if you see this wonderful movie. “You don’t get any second chances in India the way you do in America,” notes Nupur, one of the Indian contestants who went to the spelling bee competition the previous year. SPELLBOUND also is a celebration of the good that is America, the wonderful country where such great things can occur. The parents work tirelessly to help their children do their best, but most of them seem resigned to the fact that only one of the contestants can win the final competition. The main point of the movie, however, is the strong support these children receive from their involved parents. Thus, while SPELLBOUND doesn’t endorse Christianity, it does seem to endorse a strong belief in God and a belief that God wants us to work hard at developing our God-given talents. Best of all, the winners are gracious, and the losers are able to put their losses behind them.Īlthough one of the parents briefly mentions his Hindu guru, SPELLBOUND contains positive references to God, the Ten Commandments and even Jesus Christ. The final third of the movie is an intense, exciting look at the tensions, joys, and disappointments that occur at every national spelling bee contest. The positive interaction between the children and their parents almost makes the show, but the movie also has lots of interviews with the children and their siblings. SPELLBOUND contains lots of humor, suspense and character. As the number of contestants dwindles down to a few, some of the eight must go up against one of the top five spellers from last year, an Indian boy named Georgie, who proclaims his faith in Jesus Christ and extols the virtues of hard work and honoring thy father and thy mother. One of the children, Angela, comes from a Mexican immigrant family in Texas, a couple are from immigrant families from India, and the rest include a tall gangly boy named Ted from Missouri, a small, nerdy boy named Harry from New Jersey who cracks jokes and contorts his face while spelling words, a pessimistic speller from Pennsylvania named April, and a positive black girl named Ashley who’s being raised by a single mother in Washington. SPELLBOUND focuses on eight young contestants from all over the United States, including Florida, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. ![]() It’s too bad that it didn’t win the Oscar® for Best Documentary this year instead of BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, because it is far superior to that propagandistic, fictitious movie. ![]()
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