Spellbound (2002/I) – 3/5
I liked “Wordplay” (see recent post) more. This documentary focuses more on the people in the movie whereas “Wordplay” focuses on the game and object of their passion. Ironically, I think you get more of the people from “Wordplay” than this.
That cd be b/c it’s about kids and some of the passion and meaning fall out of it and it comes close to just being about “spelling words.” Also, the stakes are higher which can take some of the fun out of it (“Wordplay” is just about people enjoying puzzles, no stress or pressure… to me).
The kids are great, but either the filmmakers didn’t capture them well or there just isn’t a ton there yet. Also, it cd be b/c they focused on 8 kids. That’s a lot. After a while, I got a few of them mixed up in my head.