The SECRET LIFE OF BEES

“The SECRET LIFE OF BEES” (Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson & Paul Bettany)
This film is set in a very disturbing time in our nation’s history, thus making it very difficult to watch at times; yet amidst the racial injustices, the Boatwright sisters managed to carve out a nice living during the turbulent early-to-mid 60’s in the Southeastern United States.
The story concerns 14 year old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) who escapes her abusive father by running away with her black friend Rosalee (Jennifer Hudson) after Rosalee is beaten up by a crotchety old white man for trying to register to vote.
Paul Bettany plays the ‘somewhat over-the-top’ angry father & he makes it a little too easy to dislike his character. I will give this film some credit for not falling into that chick flick standard – All Males Are Cretins & Have No Redeeming Qualities – mode by bringing in a kindly white ‘lawyer’ (Of all characters to make likeable!)
But once Lily & Rosalee make it to their destination, a small town where Lily’s dead mother grew up, this becomes almost an all black cast filled with endearing, annoying & oddball women. On some levels it works (& I am, of course speaking from the MALE point of view) I thought Queen Latifah finally found a role that fit her perfectly (& it’s a good thing the Jenny Craig diet failed because a skinny Queen Latifah probably wouldn’t have worked here) I had not seen Dakota Fanning for a while & was
worried that my all-time favorite child actress had grown up & lost her natural ability to act, but gratefully, she is in fine form here. A truly disturbing sentence was uttered by a critic when a scene with Dakota & Hudson was shown & the critic said, “Dakota Fanning with Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson”... Something is very very wrong with the ‘Academy’ when someone with such minimal talent is an Oscar winner & the best child actor in history isn’t. Hudson’s attempt at acting in this serious film with light-hearted touches is downright embarrassing. Much more impressive were Alicia Keys & Sophie Okonedo as Queen Latifah’s sisters, May & June... & no, QL doesn’t play July Boatwright, that would just be silly . . . she plays August Boatwright. & did I mention that May’s departed twin was named April? Rosalee mutters, “I suppose next we’ll meet September, October & November” after meeting the 3 sisters & the overwhelming crowd of females in the theatre burst out laughing as though it was the funniest line they’ve ever heard... you woman are so easy to please sometimes, it’s scary!
The Boatwright sisters make a living by selling honey, August takes Lily under her wing & teaches her the ‘secrets of keeping a happy productive hive’, Rosalee joins May in the kitchen, while the good looking sister, June, just seems to sit around in Capri
slacks & acts disgusted by the nice decent guy that loves her with all his heart.
But it’s a nice though slow moving story – sometimes overly clichéd, but the connection between Lily & August is what drew me into caring about these people.
Lily becomes infatuated with the black boy that helps with the honey business & you know how well that’s going to sit with the racists in town. When the boy turns up missing after being caught sitting with Lily in a movie theatre, everyone is naturally concerned for his well-being, but for some reason this story takes just a totally off-the-wall turn that is suppose to be heavily dramatic; instead it comes across (to this particular male viewer) as forced & phony – so it lost me for a while with the maudlin funeral sequence.
I would like to say the ending is original & unexpected but... this IS a chick flick, so yes, it does fizzle out at the end by kowtowing to those who crave the proverbial ‘happy ending’. I would also like to say that despite the ending, I’d still recommend this film to ‘everyone’, but I can’t – for one reason & one reason only; for health reasons my wife & I are usually the last to leave the theatre, but when the closing song kept repeatedly asking me if I was aware that the sky was blue I couldn’t take it anymore & I struggled to get my crippled butt out of that theatre as fast as I could!