The Secret Life of Bees

Name: The Secret Life of Bees
Genre: Drama
Released: October 17, 2008
Rating: 57
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah

2008

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Ratings

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The Secret Life Of Bees

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Movie Details & Credits

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 17, 2008 | PG-13

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah

Summary: The Secret Life of Bees, based on the New York Times best selling novel and set in South Carolina in 1964, is the moving tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to aThe Secret Life of Bees, based on the New York Times best selling novel and set in South Carolina in 1964, is the moving tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping. (Fox Searchlight)
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Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

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Critic Reviews

Chris Kaltenbach

Soars on the strength of strong acting and a script that stubbornly refuses to go all sappy and preachy. Read full review

Sean Axmaker

It's the strength of the actresses and their nurturing community that makes this Eden so satisfying. Read full review

Wesley Morris

On screen something happens that goes beyond Monk's powers of description and Fanning's way of seeming 14 and 44 at the same time. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

The Secret Life of Bees is a lesson -- or, rather, a whole series of them -- we no longer need to learn. Of course, it's also a divine-sisterhood-defeats-all chick flick, and on that score there's no denying that its clichés are rousingly up to date. Read full review

Carina Chocano

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 full review

Rene Rodriguez

Emotes mightily but says precious little. Read full review

Liz Beardsworth

The source material remains affecting and the cast work hard to add dimension to a lacklustre screenplay. But sadly, it adds up to less than the sum of its parts. Read full review

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User Reviews

AlbertC.

Oct 18, 2008

Outstanding!

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FataM.

Oct 27, 2008

Wonderful, moving, and sooo timely ... the juxtaposition of the civil rights movement vis-a-vis Obama (today's "Zach") having a powerful chance at the presidency. Extraordinary acting on Queen Latifa's part; so warm, charismatic, luminous! Faaning did an excellent job as well.

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gladys

Nov 4, 2008

Loved it! This is a chic flick to be enjoyed on a girls outting. Strong female characters with a good story line. A definite must see.

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KenS.

Jan 2, 2009

I love films that reach deep into my soul to resurrect emotions that are stiffled by the daily march of stress layden life. This film crushes ones heart. tosses it around, plants it on an alter and then heals it.

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maydaysizzy

Nov 30, 2017

The Secret Life of Bees is my favorite book of all time. The movie tries for the most part to capture the emotional presence from the novel with mainstream celebrities such as Alicia Keys, this isn't for the best but still the story is memorable and uplifting.

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JayH.

Jan 31, 2009

Dakota Fanning just doesn't have the acting range to pull off the film. Queen Latifah is terrific though. Rather predictable and overly dramatic, it all seems so familiar. Too slow moving at times. It is a well meaning film, but it is flawed.

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ChadS.

Oct 22, 2008

The Boatwright sisters live in a pink house; the "home of the free", according to John Cougar Mellencamp's "Pink Houses", a song that encapsulates the promises made in the bylaws of the Emancipation Proclamation, which suggests that the "little pink houses" are made for "you and me". The Boatwright sisters live in a pink house; the "home of the free", according to John Cougar Mellencamp's "Pink Houses", a song that encapsulates the promises made in the bylaws of the Emancipation Proclamation, which suggests that the "little pink houses" are made for "you and me". The Boatwright sisters not only have property, they also own a thriving honey business. But this is 1964, a hundred some-odd years after Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, and still, the little pink houses for black folks were probably few and far between. Lest not we forget, a diner could display Black Madonna Honey in their window display, but serving black madonnas was another story altogether. But unlike the middle-class "Negroes" in John Singleton's "Rosewood", this utopian life the Boatwright women lead, never comes under attack attack by an unruly white mob. Rather, in "The Secret Life of Bees", it's a pre-teen girl, Lily Owens(Dakota Fanning), who brings disquietude to their lives, unwittingly, like a naive colonialist. When Lily roams around the Boatwright property, this precocious child, in a sense, discovers the woods, discovers the stream; she takes off her footwear and places her bare feet in the water. This act, akin to making yourself at home, is also analogous to colonization. Back home, Lily had a map with a thumbtack pinned to this very spot. Joseph Conrad wrote(from the novel "Heart of Darkness"), "Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours...and lose myself in all the glories of exploration." Although the film expunges blame towards Lily from her role in a family tragedy, it's worthy of note that at the funeral, the filmmaker distances the girl from the black-garbed, black-skinned mourners, by dressing her in a white dress. Prior to the gathering, Lily touches the heart of the black madonna, which saves her, but at the expense of her disparate housemate.… Expand

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