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There's pleasure in ‘The Secret Life of Bees'

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My mother called me a few weeks ago. She lives in Smithville and we don't get together as often as we'd like, so when she asked about a screening for “The Secret Life of Bees,” I jumped at the opportunity to invite her to see the film. She brought a driving friend and both ladies - in their mid-70s - had read the novel on which the film is based and both truly enjoyed the film, as did I. However, my mom has a tendency to reveal events in a film when she knows the material. She gasped, spoke aloud and several times told me what to expect. I love my mom, but this was annoying. Still, I, too, enjoyed the film immensely.

The Secret Life of Bees” is set against the backdrop of the tumultuous Civil Rights movement and stars Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning. Fanning plays Lily Owens, a young woman troubled since the age of 4, when she accidentally shot her mother (Hilarie Burton) to death.

Her parents, separated at her mother's request, were struggling and fighting as the child looked on from her hiding place in the closet. Little Lily picks up a gun and is too young to understand the consequences of her naïve attempt to intercede with the weapon that had fallen at her feet.

Lily's father T. Ray (Paul Bettany) raises the girl alone; his unfortunate unwillingness to talk about the incident leaves Lily so confused that she grows up blaming herself for the tragedy and doubting her self-worth. All of her questions and concerns come to a head on her 14th birthday - the only present she asks her father for is the truth about her mother and whether or not her mother had loved her. When her alcoholic dad's response is to punish her for even mentioning the subject, she finds comfort crying in the arms of her nanny, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). Additional circumstances land Rosaleen on the wrong side of the law and Lily and Rosaleen run, seeking solace and information about Lily's mother, based on little more than an old photograph and an image from a honey jar. They find clues to Lily's mother's life and a place to stay with a family of bee-keeping, honey-making sisters, the Boatwrights.

In rural South Carolina in 1964, just after the Civil Rights Act has been passed, all the familiar images and implications of racial angst and redneck justice apply, making some scenes uncomfortable to watch. The film is beautiful, however, and one of the main delights of the film is that its themes don't overwhelm. Screenwriter and director Gina Prince-Bythewood beautifully balances Lily's coming-of-age story with the Boatwrights' family drama and with the racial struggles of the outside world. Nothing is overdone, but rather the elements of each story blend well without ever becoming preachy. Several scenes are emotionally charged and touching to see, most notably the ones between Lily and August Boatwright (Latifah). Their relationship is the most pleasing to watch, as August becomes the mother figure Lily so desperately needs.

On the other hand, June and May Boatwright, while interesting enough, are not as well developed and their stories are more intellectually interesting than thoughtfully affecting. Sophie Okonedo, whose character May is a bit “touched,” does a wonderful job of drawing us into her head, where she holds the weight of the world. She handwrites prayers on tiny slips of paper and places these sorrows and woes in the slots of a wall she has built from stones in the garden.

The acting is exceptional in “The Secret Life of Bees,” rated PG-13. Keys' performance is perfection in her role as the defiant June Boatwright. Fanning has really come into her own - she is really a wonder. Bettany is so good in his threatening, hurting Southern-man persona that we hope T. Ray doesn't find Lily, but at the same time we look forward to seeing him again. I adore Queen Latifah and in this she is Oscar-worthy. She and the other ladies amaze, but it is Bettany who really surprised me. I hardly recognized the London-born actor in this role as a drunk, bitter, jilted husband and angry father. He captures the very essence of a poor white man from the South who sees his wife in the face of his daughter and who must live with the fact that the woman he loved rejected him. It is easy to both detest and pity T. Ray. Bettany's versatility impresses here.

All in all, I took pleasure in watching “The Secret Life of Bees,” despite my mother's commentary (sorry, Mom - I know you read my reviews) and can easily recommend it to most women. Men, however, might not find it as gratifying, but I could be wrong.

I am placing a B in my gradebook. This interestingly complicated tale pleases in its charm, beauty and the sense of hope and peacefulness offered in its final act.

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