The Secret Life of Bees- go see it!

I wish I took the time to write this post right after watching the movie, but my hubby and I caught a showing of The Secret Life of Bees a few weeks ago on a whim. As someone who rarely goes to the movies anymore, this was definitely worth the trip to see it on the big screen. With a cast that includes several musician-actresses Queen Latifah, Alicia Keyes, and Jennifer Hudson, I was initially leery to check out a chick flick sans some of the chick flick classic divas. However, I was wrong. These ladies along with Sophie Okenodo really brought the story to life.

Ladies, this will channel all of your mother issues as each character has a story to tell. There are moments where I could have used a tissue box (lots of those moments so be prepared) and moments that I outted a belly laugh. My! Dakota Fanning is growing up, but she played her role as Lily well. Her character is near and dear to my own heart as she dreams of being a writer.

Kudos to Gina Prince-Bythewood who directed the on screen version and has classics such as “Love and Basketball” and “Disappearing Acts” on her resume.

The NY Times published a review called “A Golden Dollup of Motherly Comfort“. The first paragraph is below…

Adapted by Gina Prince-Bythewood from the best-selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd, “The Secret Life of Bees” unfolds in a sentimental, honey-glazed land that vaguely resembles South Carolina in 1964. It would be wrong to say that the troubles of that time and place have been wished away — on the contrary, the movie begins with a scene of horrific domestic violence and includes child abuse, a racially motivated beating, suicide and the threat of a lynching — but from the opening voice-over to the final credits, every terror and sorrow is swaddled in warm, therapeutic comfort…

Now, don’t get lulled into love and happiness from the start of this review because the NY times article ends with a backhand that is worthy and debatable at the same time.

…In case they didn’t have enough problems of their own, August and her sisters also have Lily to deal with, and the film seems to struggle with an awkward and unstated tension. You can almost feel how badly it wants to be about the lives, not of bees, but of black women at a pivotal moment in the recent past.

Despite Ms. Prince-Bythewood’s best efforts to retain a sense of history, and Queen Latifah’s shrewd refusal to play her character according to stereotype, the film becomes a familiar and tired fable of black selflessness, in which African-Americans take time out from their struggle against oppression to lift the battered self-esteem of white people who have the good sense not to be snarling bigots. Even Ms. Fanning, weeping on cue and looking uncomfortable otherwise, seems a little abashed that the movie, in the end, has to be all about her.

Here’s also an excerpt of the review written in Black Voices…

After a long delay, Sue Monk Kidd’s bestseller, ‘The Secret Life Of Bees’ is finally a film– with an all-star cast to boot. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and starring Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, and Tristan Wilds, the film is laced with dramatic and powerful performances. It’s certain to satisfy the fans of the book and newcomers to the story.

Set in South Carolina in 1964, the film is the moving tale of Lily Owens (Fanning) a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother (Hilary Burton). To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father (Paul Bettany), Lily flees with Rosaleen (Hudson), her caregiver and only friend. The duo travels to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Rosaleen is also a fugitive, having fled from authorities after standing up for herself against white racists…