What makes good storytelling, I think, are good characters -- compelling and complex. More and more, documentaries are relying on a good story well told by either the filmmaker (Spellbound) or the subjects (Inlaws and Outlaws).
Here, the themes are not terribly complex but they are genuine and heartfelt, owed in the main to the subjects who are all young kids competing for the National Spelling Bee Championship. Following a nicely diverse group of kids through the trials of training for the national bee and going through the various regional steps to get there, there's a compelling view of Americana -- the true Americana where the desire to succeed spans cultural and geographical boundaries I was most moved by the farm girl's family that sacrificed so much to get their daughter to the bee. You could see that fear and pride in the promise that one's children might actually do better than you.
The one storyline that seemed uneven was that of the Indian-American family from LA. Perhaps the filmmakers intended our take on the father's obsession with his son's success to be ambivalent but it didn't resonate emotionally. If there was tension there in the father/son relationship, I didn't feel it.
In any case, this is highly entertaining and completely absorbing.
Here, the themes are not terribly complex but they are genuine and heartfelt, owed in the main to the subjects who are all young kids competing for the National Spelling Bee Championship. Following a nicely diverse group of kids through the trials of training for the national bee and going through the various regional steps to get there, there's a compelling view of Americana -- the true Americana where the desire to succeed spans cultural and geographical boundaries I was most moved by the farm girl's family that sacrificed so much to get their daughter to the bee. You could see that fear and pride in the promise that one's children might actually do better than you.
The one storyline that seemed uneven was that of the Indian-American family from LA. Perhaps the filmmakers intended our take on the father's obsession with his son's success to be ambivalent but it didn't resonate emotionally. If there was tension there in the father/son relationship, I didn't feel it.
In any case, this is highly entertaining and completely absorbing.