Spellbound

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score
97% 83%

In Theaters: April 30, 2003 (limited)

May 16, 2003 (limited)

G | 1h 37m | Documentary

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An award-winning documentary that presents the intense, real life experience of the National Spelling Bee as illustrated by the stories of eight driven, young spellers who compete for the top prize. Through the keenly observant and humane vision of director Jeff Blitz and producer Sean Welch, the audience shares the private lives of the students as they train for and compete in the ultimate intellectual showdown, discovering not only their individual personalities, their obsessive study habits, their sometimes heart-breaking, and sometimes inspiring family dynamics.

From the hardscrabble plains of Texas to the manicured lawns of Connecticut, from the redneck Ozark countryside to the troubled inner city projects of Washington, D.C., Spellbound follows the dramatic journey of eight anxious, yet courageous, young competitors as they wrestle with the impossibly difficult words and enormously big dreams that define the National Spelling Bee.