B+

A documentary about the 1999 National Spelling Bee hardly seems a riveting prospect, but by following eight of the entrants to the Washington finals Jeff Blitz’s “Spellbound” emerges as a champion in its own right. The secret to the surprising fascination and poignancy of this simple, stylistically unpretentious film is the inherent likableness and drive of the youngsters who provide its focus. They are Angela, the Texas daughter of Mexican immigrants who speak little English; April, whose dad is an easygoing bar owner; Ashley, the oldest child of a single mother in Washington, D.C.; Emily, a Connecticut girl who’s in the competition for the third time; Harry, a hyperactive jokester; Neil, an East Indian boy whose father drills him endlessly in preparation; Nupur, whose elimination the previous year has made her all the more determined this time; and Ted, the quietly intelligent son of laid-back Missouri parents. Harry might be the most irrepressible of the bunch and the stories of Angela and Ashley the most inspiring in the sense of overcoming obstacles, but the fact is that you want to root for each and every one of them, and you’ll feel the exhilaration when they succeed and the pain when they stumble over some word one can barely pronounce, let alone spell.

“Spellbound” is the tale of but one year’s competition, of course, told in microcosm by following the fates of these eight kids from regional rounds to the concluding rounds, and using quite conventional documentary techniques–interviews, straightforward reportage, and the like. But of course it goes beyond the particular to a universal story of abiding interest–the struggle of a young person to excel at something. That “something” might be football, basketball, soccer, tennis or some other physical competition; here it just happens to be an intellectual exercise–not the most profound or deep you might imagine, but one that takes enormous dedication, study and intensity. The celebration of mental accomplishment proves as suspenseful and invigorating as that accorded to a triumphant performance on a sports field, and it’s all the more engaging precisely because such recognition so rare in the media. You may well find some of the parental drilling excessive and some of the motives behind the students’ participation a bit questionable, but certainly that’s true of lots of the activities in which youngsters involve themselves nowadays, and at least in this case the goal isn’t a multi-million dollar career with hope for a lavish lifestyle and endorsement opportunities.

The title of “Spellbound” is amply justified: it’s an absorbing film that will send you home with a real affection for these kids and an appreciation for the effort they put into a competition which, curiously in these days of ubiquitous spellcheck programs, still continues to hold the public’s interest. This film does the spelling bee, and the youngsters who participate in it, proud.