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THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Send This Review to a Friend
The honey drips in this saccharine drama, mainly distinguished by an illustration of what a superb actress Dakota Fanning has turned out to be. She is fascinating to watch as she does all the right things in her portrayal of Lily Owens, a young girl who runs away from an abusive father and is given shelter by a family of beekeepers. “The Secret Life of Bees” has been written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd. It is an odd story that both expresses the struggles of a black family in South Carolina against the background of the civil rights movement and the main emotional payoff coming from the focus on the improved well-being of the white protagonist, thanks primarily to the black family that takes her in and nurtures her.
The Boatwright sisters, who are the beekeepers with a honey business, includes the always impressive Queen Latifiah as the head of the family, Alicia Keys as June, who is a music teacher, and Sophie Okonedo as May, who is fragile and vulnerable in a childlike way. Jennifer Hudson has an important role as Rosaleen, who was working for Lily’s father and took off with Lily when she escaped her father’s clutches.
We learn early that Lily as a toddler shot her mother while watching her parents fighting, and the relationship with her mother haunts her life. She believes her mother never loved her, and she needs to know the truth. Meanwhile, her father, played nastily by Paul Bettany, wants to find her and get her back.
In addition to the drama going on in the Boatwright household itself, there is enough drama in Lily’s life to add up to a tearjerker, which is what “The Secret Life of Bees” basically is. A Fox Searchlight release.
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