The Crane Pool Forum

You may think of Los Angeles' Crenshaw High School as the place where great ballplayers come from. But what of Crenshaw Middle School?

Well, that's where great spellers come from. At least, that's where one great speller comes from. At least, it is in the universe this movie is set in.

Akeelah is that middle schooler — an indifferent overall student from a single-parent home, afraid of standing out in the harsh social structures around her. But her principal sees her talent as transformational — something that can not only turn her life around, but perhaps create some ripples radiating out around her, and so he hooks her up with a mentor who is working through some shit of his own. And while her family, friends, and classmates are initially unsupportive embittered by her standout skill and the snooty spelling crowd she hangs out with across town, eventually they become part of her quest to spell her way to glory.

GLORY!

I always find it interesting when a movie studio can't reconcile their promo photo with the billing order of names, in this case putting Fishburne's name above a teenage girl and Angela Basset's on top of Fishburne's forehead.
GREASE famously had the Travolta and Newton-John pics in reverse order of the names.

I think that's become pretty close to standard since Grease. You're supposed to pay more attention or something when the names and faces aren't corresponding, forcing you to match them up.

The one on the bottom even has an extra name