*The Secret Life of Bees* sings honey-sweet and never stings
This is no B-Movie Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood Screenplay by Gina Prince-Bythewood Based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd Starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo In 1965, after receiving a vision involving bees, little Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) runs away from her abusive Southern father and into the company of three African-American bee-keeper sisters producing a brand of honey called Black Madonna . Wise August Boatwright ( Queen Latifah ) is the leader of this literal so rority; angry June (Alicia Keyes) and overwrought May ( Sophie Okonedo ) help watch over young Zach ( Tristan Wilds of The Wire ), August’s handsome pubescent godson with a Sam Cooke voice and a dream of being a lawyer, while offering refuge to Lily and her father’s housekeeper Rosaline ( Jennifer Hudson ). At this quasi-commune , Lily begins learning how racially-privileged she’s been (as signified by her given name), despite her own abuse. She’s struck by the cultu...