Not what I expected at all. The movie is ostensibly about a young girl’s journey to the National Spelling Bee Competition in Washington, DC. But it is more about how the individual pursuit of God’s grace can go astray if communication with loved ones is absent.

Richard Gere plays an obsessed professor who does not juggle family and vocational responsibilites well. He invariably hurts the people he loves most. The sub-plot about his son’s search for spiritual connection was the most interesting part for me, although the wife’s journey is certainly the most surprising. It was not the feel-good film I was expecting at all. Very dark, in places, but worth a look.