A dense story about a little girl and the impact her mother's death has on her makes terrific cinema in this beautifully realised film
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02/27/09
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
58
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:134
Fresh:78
Rotten:56
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: The Secret Life of Bees has moments of charm, but is largely too maudlin and sticky-sweet.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Mar 5, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $37,665,012
Synopsis: THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, based on the New York Times best selling novel and set in South Carolina in 1964, is the moving tale of Lily Owens (Fanning) a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory... [More]
Starring: Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Reviews for The Secret Life of Bees
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticThe film has a dream-like quality above its punchy emotional core
02/27/09
Top CriticOnce again, Dakota Fanning demonstrates that, even as a teenager, she already has the acting skills and range equal to -- if not better than -- her A-list contemporaries.
03/06/09
Top CriticOn most levels the film, which has a surprising number of unconvincing details, takes the sugary option; it shies away from the harsher realities whenever possible.
03/06/09
Top CriticGlossy yet ultimately shallow, this platitudinous, unconvincing drama makes The Colour Purple look like Mississippi Burning.
03/06/09
Top CriticThe issue of racial integration is ever-present and it certainly serves as a reminder of how far America has come to vote for a black President.
12/05/08
At its best, Secret Life of Bees feels like an American spin on the wonderful Dutch Oscar-winner Antonia's Line, about a utopian matriarchal society that stands apart from a world in chaos.
10/14/08
The Secret Life of Bees is a deeply felt, well-intentioned film about race and reverence in the summer of '64. Like the ambrosia at the center of the plot, it moves slowly and tastes sweet.
10/17/08
Nothing wrong with a weeper, as long as it earns its tears honestly. Bees does for the most part, largely through performances that rise above the sometimes too-pat material to convey -- and elicit -- real emotion.
10/16/08
Irreverence and cynicism may be the dominant themes of the day, but surely there's a place for a film with the timeless virtues of The Secret Life of Bees.
11/15/08
With meaty themes and compelling characters, Bees is a rich, emotional exploration of the redeeming power of love and the transforming comfort of home.
10/17/08
This tale of compassion and love crossing the racial divide of the civil rights-era South remains powerful even when not fully plausible.
10/17/08
The filmmakers give Latifah and Fanning room to create characters that breathe in the sweet smell of clover and breathe out the contented sigh of independence.
10/23/08
There's plenty wrong with The Secret Life of Bees, but the durnblasted thing got to me anyway.
10/17/08
Love and family may not be able to overcome everything, but you couldn't prove that by The Secret Life of Bees, a refreshingly clear-headed film version of Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling novel.
10/17/08
The Secret Life of Bees features another buzz-worthy turn by Dakota Fanning.
01/28/09
Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but Secret Life of Bees is better than most family fare currently available to audiences. Latifah and Hudson, in particular, and memorable.
10/19/08
Those who were moved by the book are likely to find this adaptation affecting and emotionally satisfying.
10/17/08
Top CriticBees is almost too sweet, but with enduring enough performances to make a solid movie.
07/06/09
A wonderful film about family, independence and the transcendent power of love, The Secret Life of Bees brims with honest emotion without spilling over into cheap sentimentality.
10/17/08
Latest News for The Secret Life of Bees
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