Review: A Secret Life of Bees

My parents are by far two of the busiest people I know, and although they live next door to me I don't see them nearly as much as you might think.  They are constantly either traveling for work or caring for their aged parents, and are in general the sort of people who seem unsettled when not engaged in some sort of useful or (at the very least) helpful activity.  

Therefore when my mom and I went to see the movie The Secret Life of Bees together this past Wednesday, it officially qualified as a rare and wonderful event.  Although she is an accountant by day, I choose to believe my mom is really a closeted lover of literature.  As a rule she appreciates stories that are engrossing and original, but not too "out there" or depressing.  

A Secret Life of Bees turned out to be exactly what we were looking for - sentimental but not TOO maudlin.  Set in the racially-charged South in the 1960's, the story tells of a young girl named Lily who runs away from her abusive father with the family's African American maid Rosaline.  They seek refuge in the home of three honey-making sisters August, June, and May, where they learn about love and what it means to have a family.  My favourite thing about is movie its aesthetic beauty; yellows, purples, and greens fill the screen, and sitting in the theatre I could practically feel the heat of  the South and taste the sweetness of honey.  The film also features excellent performances from all the actresses (Queen Latifa, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keyes, and Sophie Okenedo), making it extremely enjoyable to watch.  

Overall, A Secret Life of Bees reminded me of the sort of movie I'd have gone to see five years ago, before my frequent theatre-going companion became a 25 year old man who thinks anything in which the main character is a woman is automatically romantic and trivial.  (Of course he denies this, but everyone knows it's true).  I would certainly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story (and good acting, cinematography, etc) but is not put off by things that obviously try to hook you with sugary sentiment.