It's funny, but the most exciting, suspenseful film I've seen this year was not TERMINATOR 3, X2, THE MATRIX RELOADED or any of the other hot-shot summer action blockbusters; nor was it even CHAOS, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS or SWIMMING POOL, all taut independent thrillers, each very good in its own way. No, the most riveting, edge-of-your-seat movie I've seen thus far in 2003 is SPELLBOUND, a documentary about the National Spelling Bee. When I first heard of this film, I was flabbergasted. No! I thought, how dare they ruin another classic? I was, of course, misled by the title, thinking the film to be a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1945 film of the same name. Luckily, it is nothing of the sort; in fact, it's much better (let's face it, the only thing that sets SPELLBOUND above any other average Hitchcock film is Salvador Dali's brilliantly designed dream sequence). Once I realized my mistake, though, I was intrigued. I was always a good speller myself, and it seemed like fertile ground for a documentary, or perhaps for a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary; in fact, this is almost like BEST IN SHOW, but for real. Even Guest himself couldn't write characters this bizarre and funny, because they spring straight from real life: the father who prays for each word as his son advances in the finals, the mother who chats nonchalantly while the family dog licks her calf repeatedly for no apparent reason, the 11-year-old kid who can't yet pronounce the letter "r", but can spell words I've never heard of. All fascinating "characters" ---- all real. Equally hilarious and bizarre is the real-life situation-comedy in the film: each small town's tendency to congratulate their spelling bee competitors with horribly misspelled billboards, one boy's eagerness causing him to goof a word as easy as "mayonnaise" on the second letter. Many favorite is a little piece of irony that many probably overlooked: the fact that the final word in the competition perfectly describes on of its failed contestants (in fact, the one I found to be the least likable, partly because of this trait). The film has plenty of drama as well. You can see the pressure bearing down on some of these kids, and you feel for each one that is eliminated. No doubt, most viewers will pick a favorite and, quite possibly, be hurt when he or she loses. I experienced something like this myself with my "favorite" (but I'm not telling who), and I found myself spelling along with the kids, sometimes sure I was right and then being proved wrong by one of the sharp-witted little devils. But, hey, they studied for it, right? Maybe I'll enter next year.
Review of Spellbound
