The Secret Life of Bees (Blu-ray) PG-13
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Blu-ray Details
- Rated: PG-13
- Run Time: 1 hours, 49 minutes
- Video: Color
- Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
- Released: February 3, 2009
- Originally Released: 2008
- Label: 20Th Century Studios
Performers, Cast and Crew:
Starring | Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo & Dakota Fanning | |
Performer: | Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Hilarie Burton & Paul Bettany | |
Directed by | Gina Prince-Bythewood | |
Edited by | Terilyn A. Shropshire | |
Screenwriting by | Gina Prince-Bythewood | |
Composition by | Mark Isham | |
Produced by | Lauren Shuler Donner, Will Smith, James Lassiter & Joe Pichirallo | |
Director of Photography: | Rogier Stoffers | |
Executive Production by | Jada Pinkett Smith |
Entertainment Reviews:
A god-awful chick flick about black women bonding in a sugary, never-never South. It should be renamed How to Make an American Wilt (and any other viewer).
Full Review
Financial Times
Rating: 6.5/10 --
All the pieces are there for a good movie but there's an undeniable sense of reluctance to put them into play. Every time it seems like the film might be taking a chance it retreats to safe ground.
Full Review
ComingSoon.net
Rating: 5/5 --
Can I tell you a secret? This movie is *really* good. Grab Nana and go see it!
Full Review
3BlackChicks Review
One of the pleasures of the film is that the themes don't hit you over the head....There are some deeply emotional moments...
Premiere
Rating: B- --
The story was okay, but I think there was an underlying mammy factor that rubbed me the wrong way.
Full Review
Reel Talk Online
Rating: 3/6 --
There's a purity, clarity and honesty to this feminist heart-warmer's melodramatic instincts that make it surprisingly moving and satisfying.
Full Review
Time Out
Rating: 3/5 --
A sweet, sentimental story with a sting in the tail.
Full Review
sbs.com.au
Product Description:
Book club favorite THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES more than just survives its transition to the screen. Thanks to its strong cast, this female-centric drama thrives. Dakota Fanning stars as Lily, a 14-year-old girl living with her abusive father (Paul Bettany) in South Carolina in 1964. Lily struggles with a burden of guilt after she accidentally killed her mother a decade before, and she longs for knowledge of the woman. When the family's caretaker Rosaleen (Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson) is arrested after standing up to a group of violent white men, Lily seizes the opportunity to run off with Rosaleen and search for clues to her mother's life. They arrive at the home of the Boatwrights, a trio of black sisters. Motherly August (Queen Latifah) cultivates the state's most coveted honey, June (Alicia Keys) focuses on her music and on rebuffing the advances of an ardent suitor (Nate Parker), and childlike May (Sophie Okonedo) struggles to stay happy in the turbulent time. But in a still-racist world where the Civil Rights Act has just been passed, the Boatwrights' home acts as a haven for Lily as she searches for information about her mother's past.
The heavy drama could've presented a challenge for Fanning, who has gone beyond the role of a little girl, but she does a fine job. The other actresses in the film, especially Latifah and Okonedo, shine without overpowering the other performances. Bettany departs from his usual charming roles and melts into the difficult part of Lily's violent father. In the spirit of past favorites such as THE COLOR PURPLE and CORRINA, CORRINA, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES presents a gripping look at the South in the 1960s with a nice balance of laughter and tears.
The heavy drama could've presented a challenge for Fanning, who has gone beyond the role of a little girl, but she does a fine job. The other actresses in the film, especially Latifah and Okonedo, shine without overpowering the other performances. Bettany departs from his usual charming roles and melts into the difficult part of Lily's violent father. In the spirit of past favorites such as THE COLOR PURPLE and CORRINA, CORRINA, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES presents a gripping look at the South in the 1960s with a nice balance of laughter and tears.
Description by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning head a stellar ensemble cast in this "wonderful film about family, independence and the transcendent power of love" (Minneapolis Star Tribune) based on the acclaimed best-selling novel. To escape her cruel, angry father - and discover the truth about her late mother's past - 14-year old Lily Owens flees with her caregiver and friend Rosaleen to a South Carolina town where she's taken in by the bee-keeping Boatwright sisters. Surrounded by the unexpected love, grace and spirituality she encounters there, Lily forms a bond with each of these uniquely gifted women and discovers that sometimes you must leave home in order to find it.