Spellbound

An enthralling, suspenseful documentary about spelling bees... yes, spelling bees: The spectacle of kids conquering freaky, tongue-twisting words really is thrilling. First-time feature filmmakers Jeff Blitz and Sean Welch single out eight children from wildly different backgrounds and trace the paths that lead them to the 1999 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, a two day event held annually in Washington, D.C. Eligibility ends at the eighth grade and students can't be older than 16, but most appear to be between 10 and 12. In any given year, nine million students participate in local and regional spelling bees; only 249 qualify to go to the Nationals and test the...