Well,this was a nice surprise,it has it all except for violence and murder,and that is a relieve .ms fanning does a marvellous job in this film,along the 4 coloured girls of the main cast, there are some magical moments in the movie,that are profounlingly touching the strings of my harp of feelings-. the music are made with a great touch,the use of sound and light are masterworthy,and it has a brilliant ending. its a through hit from the directress.its all about love and feelings....and honey and bees, and thank yu dakota

I just watched it again last night and The Secret life of Bees always makes me remember why it is one of my favorite movies. There are just so many high points to this film...no film is perfect but I think a 9 is well justified and since I'm a bit biased I give it a 10 :)All of the main actresses are just SUPERB in their roles. It always amazes me how Alicia Keys embodied the role of this beautiful talented but cold hard little women so bent on blocking out her emotions. Her learning to play the cello in 4 weeks for this role I think shows her dedication to the character and it comes through on screen. Queen Latifah is just absolutely perfect as the older sister/main mother figure. Jennifer Hudson embraces her role of down trodden maid turned strong, cultured loving sister and Sophie Okonedo...jeez the seamlessness of an actress being her character cannot escape you with her she is so extremely talented, wise and truly pure and endearing as May Boatwright I never fail to cry. Dakota Fanning is great as usual and also never fails to make me cry when she finally admits what she's done as a child and declares herself "unlovable." The women leads carry this film but also great in their supporting roles are the few males in the cast including Paul Bettany as the domineering abusive love-lost father Tristan Mack WIlds as Lillys' love and Nate Parker as the intelligent and endearing love to June.The movie fairly thoroughly explores several themes without I think pushing any one too much down your throat...from abandonment, guilt, abuse (both physical and emotional), racism, bigotry, nature, the way of nature and man and how they conflict, themes of hatred and of course love. Love that is where the true heart of the movie lies in love, how we all want it like Lilly, how love is blind with Lilly and Zach, how we're scared to take it like June and Neil, how some of the pure and innocent like May can have unconditional love and how we should all strive for that love and happiness everyday in everything around us. The very essence of what makes the honey so good is the love used in extracting it, the love sent out by the bees into the universe, the time and care took to package each and ever jar (this is what makes it even more intense when Lilly breaks several of them as she knows more than anyone the time and effort it makes it make even one jar)..So much love in this movie.The score is also gorgeous as they tend to the bees and India Aries' "Beautiful" crooning to the backdrop of beautiful hot southern summer nights and days filled with laughter and joy in the midst of a world of hatred are heavenly. The filming locations are beautiful, the direction is great. Always one of my favorites. 10/10

The secret life of bees is a beautiful story. The acting is very strong and the all star cast make the movie flow really good. I love the story and i also cried while watching it, it has to be one of my favorite movies. Dakota Fanning is a strong actress and really shows the feeling of the movie, she has great on screen relationships with Jennifer Hudson and queen Latifah. A surprisingly good actress Alica Keys brings her own style to the movie and makes it work with her character June. Which i think would be very hard to play as the character has to deal with a lot of her own feelings, where most of the other characters in the film are trying to work where they fit into the world and the relationships around them. Paul Bettany truly surprised me with how dark he could be with the character of Lily's(Dakota Fanning) father. I'll recommend the movie to anyone.

This is one of the greatest films that I have ever seen! It should have won the Oscar for best picture. It wasn't glitzy but it dealt with important issues of life. All of the performances were superb! Queen Latifah gave a bravura performance that exerted a calm, loving force to the film. Dakatoa Fanning was marvelous in a restrained performance that burst through at key points in the story. Sophie Okonedo played an intriguing and captivating character who balanced the absence of emotion in Alicia Keys' role. Paul Betany's performance was so good that I didn't recognize him until I saw the credits. The central theme was love in its many manifestations and we need more experiences like this. The cinematography was beyond beautiful. This film was pure poetry in an age of chaotic noise.