The Secret Life of Bees on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Rachel Cericola
The Film
The entire concept of
The Secret Life of Bees sounds like a very special episode of Oprah. The cast is filled with a trio of talented singers (Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys) and the subject matter screams for the top slot on her almighty book club listing.
Well, the big O didn't choose Sue Monk Kidd's best-seller as a must-read, but she certainly did her part to promote the movie, including sending her magazine out to the set and having the entire cast come in to sit on the big couch. While all of the Oprah-related hype might scare viewers away (I wasn't thrilled going into it),
Bees can certainly fly on its own.
The touching coming-of-age story stars a teenage Dakota Fanning as Lily, a girl that is tortured by past memories of her mom's murder and the current situation with her abusive father (a creepy Paul Bettany). Lily soon hits the road with her civil-rights-seeking nanny (Hudson), and the two find solace with
the three Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and
Hotel Rwanda star Sophie Okonedo). Lily, on the other hand, also finds her first love and secrets -- not just about the bees, but about the mother that she lost at the age of 4.
Sure,
Bees is filled with more sap than honey. In fact, expect to go through at least a quarter of your closest Kleenex box during the film's 110-minute runtime. Still, the stellar cast and a touching story outweighs a lot of the toothache-inducing sugar in this fairytale chick flick.
Check out Lexi Feinberg's review of the theatrical release of
The Secret Life of Bees.
The Picture
Yes, this film takes a few liberties with the time period and storyline. It's a fairytale, and as such, you can expect some fairly dreamy scenery. The rich South Carolina fields, the deep colors and detail of the parlor, and even the thousands of bees pop in this 2.35:1 transfer. Did we mention the Boatwrights' Easter-egg-pink house? That's just one of the many beautiful colors here. It's a shame that most will miss such a great looking movie based solely on the subject matter.
The Sound
Despite a full cast of singing sensations, there's not a lot of music beyond Mark Isham's score. The DTS-HD track does a nice job of delivering the music, as well as the dialogue. Aside from that, there are a few standout sounds, specifically the buzz of the bees and Keys' cello performances.
The Extras
One of the great things about this movie is that you don't need to be familiar with the book (I wasn't). However, fans of either will have plenty of extra fodder with this release. Author Sue Monk Kidd is present in one of the more noteworthy featurettes (highlighting the pink house), but neither of the two optional commentaries. There's also an interesting peek at "Beekeeping 101." The material also gets bonus points for being entirely in HD.
Final Thoughts
The Secret Life of Bees does not wrap everything up in a nice little package. After all, it's not a Lifetime movie. However, if you can stick it out through some of the sap, you'll be treated to a heartwarming tale with a talented cast. The beauty of Blu-ray is the icing on the cake, here, making it more than OK to partake in a good cry -- as well as this good chick flick.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Actors: Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, Paul Bettany
- Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
- Audio/Languages: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (English), Dolby 5.1 (Spanish)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Region: A
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: PG-13
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: February 3, 2009
- Run Time: 110 minutes
- List Price: $39.99
- Extras:
- Theatrical Version
- Extended Version
- Commentary with Director/Screenwriter Gina Prince-Bythewood, Producers Lauren Shuler Donner & Joe Pichirallo, Actors Dakota Faning and Queen Latifah
- Commentary with Director/Screenwriter Gina Prince-Bythewood and Film Editor Terilyn Shropshire
- 8 Deleted Scenes
- Adaptation: Bringing The Secret Life of Bees to the Big Screen
- The Women and Men of The Secret Life of Bees
- Inside the Pink House with Sue Monk Kidd
- Beekeeping 101
- Life on the Set
- The World Premiere
