The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

110 min. Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood. Cast: Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Sophie Okonedo.

/content/films/3242/2.jpgSue Monk Kidd's hit novel The Secret Life of Bees becomes a predictably sappy movie under the direction of Gina Prince-Blythewood. The quintet of leading actresses—Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okenedo—make the most of the material but deserve better. It’s 1964 in South Carolina, and Fanning’s Lily turns 14 right around the time the Civil Rights Act is signed into law. When Lily’s African-American nanny, played by Hudson, runs afoul of bullying racists, Lily decides to spring Rosaleen from police custody and herself from her abusive father, Paul Bettany in a change-of-pace role. The two set out to find Lily’s birth mother but find themselves living with three African-American sisters who run a honey business. Latifah’s their serene leader, Keys the pouty rebel, and Okenedo the simpleton whose depth of feeling infuses the rest. If you’re in the mood for a weepie book-club kind of movie with an excess of obvious symbolism, step right up.