Bee Season
Metascore
54 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 32
  3. Negative: 3 out of 32
view
per page
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Allison Benedikt
    38
    Gere and Binoche are both terribly miscast--one far too charismatic, the other far too dowdy, which is something for Juliette Binoche. And the spelling bees? Dull. Dreary.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    38
    It took one novelist, one screenwriter and two directors - Scott McGehee and David Siegel - to cobble together this earnest nonsense, and if it weren't for 12-year-old novice Flora Cross, who plays its central character, all would be lost.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    38
    F-A-I-L-U-R-E.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.2 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 3 out of 8
  1. CherylC.
    4
    Simply a pretentious mess. What a waste of the children's talents.
  2. ChadS.
    4
    [***SPOILERS***] What's missing from "Bee Season" is that one scene in which we feel the thrill of Eliza's accomplishment. It's just not there. We think that moment is going to occur when Eliza and Aaron(Max Minghella) interrupt their father's class; something akin to Ned Beatty telling his co-workers that Rudy is going to Notre Dame. But no, we cut to the father's office, the big news already sprung, so we're denied Saul's initial bout of incredulousness. In the novel by Myla Goldberg, to my recollection, Miriam's depression never compartmentalizes Eliza's spelling bee training, and spelling bee competitions(most of the time, the spellers never get to finish their words) into afterthought. When you hire a big star like Juliette Binoche(her wanderings are introduced too early), that's going to happen. Not to mention, Richard Gere(in the book, I imagined Saul Naumann as a cross between Mr. Hooper from Sesame Street and Larry David). "Bee Season" needs more spelling and less, way less withering looks and tears. What if "Searching for Bobby Fischer" spent an inordinate amount of time on Lawrence Fishburne's hobo activities? I loved the book. This adaptation is very, very disappointing.… Full Review »
  3. E.Phillips
    2
    What a bizzare movie! Talk about a dysfunctional family!! I wonder why Richard Gere would do such a movie.
See all user reviews »