Spellbound

OdeonFriday 17 – Thursday 23 October Thirteen year olds spelling excessively long words is not standard material for an edge of your seat thriller, but director Jeff Blitz is able to muster at least as much tension as any Stephen King flick. The film follows eight hopefuls in their attempts to take the title and the $10,000 prize in the American national spelling contest. The subjects come from a variety of backgrounds, from inner city ghettoes to upmarket suburbs. Some are more charismatic than others, but all have very different reasons for entering a competition of gladiatorial proportions. The format of the events is excruciating; the kids’ faces contort bizarrely as they attempt to spell such monsters as “Logorrhoea”, and “Pococurante”, and any error is immediately punished by the ringing of a little bell and a “walk of shame”. The various mentor figures on the sidelines add another dimension to the film, which highlights America’s viciously competitive culture. By the time the gloves come off, you empathise so much with the kids that you find yourself willing them on in this geeky equivalent to a beauty pageant. Through luck or some genius editing, Blitz is able to count the winner amongst his eight subjects.ARCHIVE: 1st Week MT2003