The Secret Life of Bees 2008

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The Secret Life of Bees insists so strenuously on its themes of redemption, tolerance, love and healing that it winds up defeating itself. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Jennifer Hudson adds some grit to a project that might have worked better as a Hallmark TV special. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Okonedo is at times heartbreakingly good as May, who carries a deep well of pain inside her; Keys is nicely fiery as June, who takes time to warm up to the visitors. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: It's unabashedly soft and sentimental, in its soft-pedaled tragedies as well as its uplift. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: 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. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Prince-Bythewood demonstrates a lovely gift for capturing the unsaid. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: What's being sold here is the movie equivalent of the honey-drenched sweet potato biscuits that are forever being passed around on-screen. Their nutritional value may be nil, but they sure look comforting. Read more

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune: Sweat and good intentions, however, will take you only so far. And they take Bees right up to the threshold of entertaining%u2014but not one step further. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: 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. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The honey runs thick in The Secret Life of Bees, and so does the treacle. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: The Secret Life of Bees maintains a smartly calibrated balance between the personal and the historic, between nature and culture. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: There's a quiet charm to The Secret Life of Bees, a family movie that dares to tackle some serious subjects along the way. It's feel-good most of the time, feel-bad some of the time, and well made throughout. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Isn't it time that Hollywood took a sabbatical -- maybe a permanent one -- from movies in which black characters exist primarily to save the souls of white ones? Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: Chugs along pleasantly like a television special tailored for the crossover female market. Which is basically what it is, though it drops tantalizing hints that it has more on its mind than a benign tale of substitute mothering across the color line. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: This is woefully familiar material, and Prince-Bythewood overdirects the film, draining it of the messiness of real life in favor of a syrupy sweetness that threatens to drown you. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: As for Fanning, she continues to prove herself a natural who can handle anything thrown her way. It's worth wondering, though, if she should have to. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Price-Bythewood has encouraged fairly broad performances from these formidable actresses for characters who aren't terribly well developed in her script. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Is the sweetness worth the stickiness in this maudlin American Sisterhood of the Traveling Green Tomatoes? Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: 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. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's hard to imagine that The Secret Life of Bees won't be part of many Oscar conversations. It has the intelligence, craftsmanship, and heart to win over both critics and regular movie-goers. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: As a realistic portrayal of life in rural South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees is dreaming. As a parable of hope and love, it is enchanting. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Latifah is, as always, pure pleasure to watch. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Prince-Bythewood makes you care about the characters and hope they live happily ever after. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: It's hard to roll your eyes when they're full of tears. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: 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. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: None of this, as you might guess, is shot through a glass darkly. Read more

Susan Walker, Toronto Star: Quite a bit of honey is applied to make the awful truths palatable, but The Secret Life of Bees curtails the sappiness with performances -- especially Fanning's -- that are grounded in reality. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The film is full of sweet, subtle touches. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: There's a purity, clarity and honesty to this feminist heart-warmer's melodramatic instincts that make it surprisingly moving and satisfying. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Those who were moved by the book are likely to find this adaptation affecting and emotionally satisfying. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Like a mouthful of honey, The Secret Life of Bees is cloyingly sweet and gooey, and you're not quite sure you can swallow it undiluted. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Through it all, Fanning more than keeps up with the big girls. Read more