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Bee Season Review

Release Date: Nov 11, 2005
Rated: thematic elements, a scene of sensuality and brief strong language
Runtime: 1 hr. 44 min.
Genres: Drama, Family
Director:David Siegel, Scott McGehee
Cast:Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, Max Minghella, Kate Bosworth. Full cast + crew

Movies.com Critics

4.5

Dave White Profile <h3>Dave White</h3> <p><strong>Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex</strong></p> <br /> <p>Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...<a href="http://www.movies.com/movie-reviews/dave-white">Read full profile</a></p>

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Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

3.0

54

out of 100

Metascore^®
Mixed or average reviews
based on a weighted average of all
critic review scores.
100

out of 100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The performance by Flora Cross is haunting in its seriousness. She doesn't act out; she acts in.

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50

out of 100

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Ultimately, its success may depend on how emotionally satisfying audiences find this flirtation with Jewish mysticism.

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67

out of 100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Bee Season answers the question no Talmudic student or fan of "Unfaithful" has thought to ask: What would Richard Gere look like as a learned Jewish scholar and teacher?

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70

out of 100

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
For a film filled with jagged shards of glass, and sometimes shot kaleidoscopically, through the windows of houses or cars, Bee Season is carefully, almost relentlessly, intended. That said, the script, by Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, touches on themes that rarely make it to the big screen.
75

out of 100

USA Today Claudia Puig
Based on the captivating novel by Myla Goldberg, Bee Season is evocative and superbly acted.

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See all Bee Season reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 13+

Spelling bees and family drama; not for kids.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this drama focuses on a family's gradual, difficult breakdown. It includes several tense family scenes, one harsh argument between father and son (yelling and using the f-word), and the revelation of the mother's mental illness (she's having flashbacks to the harrowing sight of her parents' fatal car crash, and stealing objects from houses she can reach by car and by foot). A young spelling prodigy comes to see not only how words are spelled, but also how to forgive and help her fragile family.

Families can talk about the increasing distances among the family members. How might Saul pay closer attention to Miriam's needs, even as he pursues his own desire for a profound spiritual experience? How do the various searches for spiritual "connection" parallel one another?

The good stuff

Messages: Family grapples with loss of emotional closeness and spiritual direction; a troubled mother becomes a thief; a father becomes obsessed with his young daughter's capacity to "connect with God."

What to watch for

Violence: Flashbacks of car accident that left one character's parents dead (no bodies, but disturbing fragments of visual/emotional trauma).
Sex: Passionate sex scene between parents.
Language: Brief strong language by father and teenaged son during an argument (f-word).
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Minor.

Common Sense Media

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.