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Poster (c) HBO Films
In a time where movies are based on comic books and have titles too long for their own good, it’s refreshing to see a movie where the most unoriginal thing is the title, stolen from a Hitchcock film. Although it’s hardly an “event” to be filmed, Spellbound is a movie that will not only keep you enthralled, but will bring out that braces-wearing, huge-glasses-wearing geek that you were in high school. Everyone of the eight contestants are nerds, but they go for the gold, and you can see that they really struggle for something.
Eight kids are followed (they were chosen because they all were good picks on who may make it to the final), all from various parts of the world. They have different lifestyles, are different races, and have different methods of studying. They have varying experiences in spelling bees and are varying personalities, as we learn from the first half of the film, where it takes us to the houses and surroundings of the participants, and we learn everything about them except the number of fillings in their teeth. One of them, April DiGideo, lives in my neighboring town of Ambler, PA.
After that’s done, we follow them to Washington, D.C. where the competition is. In a group of about 300, some of the kids we got to know are eliminated in the first few rounds. However, some of them made it to the finals. If you’re going to see Spellbound, which you should, you do not want to know who wins. I had no idea, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even though it’s such a small subject, you have no idea who’s going to win, making Spellbound a thrilling documentary that any fans of documentaries or spelling should see.
Rated G.
Review Date: July 15, 2003