Rating: 
Summary: INtriguing, beautiful story
Review: I admit I rented Bumblebee because Janeane Garafalo and Elijah Wood are in it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was soon absorbed in the story of Barney Snow (Wood) a teenager with no memory who has agreed to participate in experimental therapy administered by Garafalo and a group of doctors at an Institute housing terminally ill young people. Barney is the only person there who is not dying, but he is having haunting visions of being in a car accident. He befriends a couple of the patients who turn out to be as vitally important to Barney and the audience as Barney himself. We are drawn in and held tight as this movie slowly opens doors for Barney and reveals the truth about his past and his identity. I found the entire last quarter of the film gripping and poignant. I am sorry I did not get to experience this film in a theatre properly, but it translates well on video nonetheless. It blew me away. My only complaint is Rachael Leigh Cook as Barney's love interest and teh sister of a patient at the Institute. She does not seem to have much to do with the story at all, which is mildly annoying. I would have liked to see her character have more depth and purpose especially since she interacts with Barney closely in the last half of the film. Overall, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway is a sweet film that stays with you long after the credits roll and I am going to purchase it as soon as the price lowers from 100 dollars:)FYI: The title refers to the bumblebee's ability to fly even though it should not be able to due to its body size and tiny wing span.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful tale of life and distortion.
Review: I caught this movie on Starz and have considered it my favorite movie since. Though I haven't read the book yet, I still consider my high opinion of this film to be valid, and it's an amazing movie. From the puzzling beginning to the end, it was an intriguing, saddening, and hopeful movie. I highly recommend that you at least see this film. It just might change you.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than expected
Review: I didn't expect much from this movie, but it turned out to be sweet, well-written, well-acted, and had presented some ideas that are worth thinking about. Occasional lines of dialogue felt clunky, but overall it all flowed nicely. And while the story did seem a little unbelievable at times, its nice to see a film that tries the unexpected.
Elijah Wood and Rachael Leigh Cook were very charismatic, and ultimately believable. It was also nice to see their relationship develop gradually throughout the film. In the the supporting cast, Janeane Garrolfalo was a bit wooden, but Joe Perrino as a teenager with bone cancer, and Roger Rees as the doctor added nice touches.
Rating:
Summary: good concept; must see food for thought movie
Review: I enjoyed this movie very much. The title needs some explanation. Long winded titles like this tend to turn off potential renters and buyers. The main charachter Barney Snow is the bumblebee flying anyway. The bumblebee doesn"t know it cant fly because the laws of physics say it can't so it does anyway. Barney has his memory erased so that he doesn't know he has bone cancer, so he lives anyway without symptons. This concept is fictional, yet it is correct that the basis for many diseases are mental and emotionally based. One should practice control over ones thoghts regularly with a form of meditation that observes the thought stream. The movie uses hypnosis to build a wall around barney's thoughts and memories. De-hypnosis by watching the thought stream may be a concept that can really prevent disease. People walk around daily in a hypnotic compulsive state already. I really enjoyed Elijah Wood . He is by far the best under 30 actor todaY. This movie is good for the whole family, no violence. I love the touch with his girlfriend staying with him giving him the courage to continue the research experiment. The last couple scenes in the movie are beautiful emotional scenes. Enjoy , Hope to see many more of these from Elijah.
Rating: 
Summary: The book's much better--but don't read it first.
Review: I first came to knowledge of such a movie when I was browsing in my local video store (but had absolutely not knowledge it was in theatres before...*was* it?). I was so excited. As an almost obsessive Robert Cormier fan, I was dying to see this book in a different perspective-on a video. However, I must say I was rather disappointed. I have to admit that the plot is great, and so is the story idea, but the video is just so SLOW! The whole 90-something minute is action-less and quite boring. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I've already read the book and knew what would happen in the end. All I saw was Barney wandering around the hospital, talking with Cassie and the other patients. The spark between Barney and Cassie and many other parts of the story were crushed by the video-the book did too good of a job of expanding our imaginations. So, a little suggestion: watch the video first! The book would then give you a deeper and more touching side of the story afterwards. Or, another solution would be to watch/read one, and not the other-let the book leave it to the imagination, or enjoy the movie and forget about the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Bumblebee Flies Away VHS
Review: I have to admit that when i first rented this movie i wasn't expecting much at all... However i was quite happy with it. It truly is a great movie. This is defently one of the best Independent films I've ever seen (and i've seen a lot!). My recomendation is at least rent this movie, you won't be sorry!
Rating:
Summary: One of Elijah's Finest
Review: I have to say the first reason I thought of picking this movie up was Elijah Wood. As a performer myself, I realized his talent years ago when he starred as Huck Finn back in 1993. I knew then that his was a carreer to watch. I followed Elijah through the good movies and the bad until yesterday when I picked up "Bumblebee." What would you do if you had to literally forget your past in order to have a future. Barney Snow (Elijah Wood) is faced with exactly this decision in this heart tugging drama.Barney snow wakes up in hospital for terminally ill youths, not remembering how he got there, or even what his name is. His only choice is to trust the information he is given by Dr. Herriman or "The Handyman" (Jeneane Garafolo). Along his journey, Barney meets and befriends several of the patients as well as one patients extremely good-looking sisters named Cassie (Rachel Leigh Cook). THe two develop a typical teen love at first sight relationship that will leave any teenage girl sobbing by the end. Of course, I sobbed at the end too, but not for the love story. Elijah Wood's performance is yet again almost flawless. I felt for his character almost right from the start and his boyish features truly make you believe that this 20 year old man is actually a 15 year old boy. Rachel Leigh Cook's role in this film was a little beefed up in promos for publicity reasons but nonetheless, her performance is excellent. She brings out the best in Barney, whether he knows it or not. THe only dissapointment I had was this movie was Jenean Garafolo. I felt like she was reading her lines form a poster board and she really didn't feel like being there at all. I lied, my other dissapontment with this film was the score. The music was too sporatic, to little and far between and altoghether wrong for this script. For those two reasons I have givin this movie four stars. The performance of the actors makes this film better than its far fetched plot. If you are a fan of great acting, watch this film.
Rating:
Summary: great!
Review: i loved this movie! it was touching, sad and funny at the same time. and ain't elijah wood the best!?! i love him!!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, thoughtful movie for all ages
Review: I must admit that I only turned this movie on because I recognized the name from the list of movies that Elijah Wood had been in; after all, I don't think that I heard anything about it when it came out. But I was pleasantly surprised. I missed the first few minutes, but the rest of the movie left me so happy that I will be watching the full movie as soon as I can. Although some of the ideas in the movie; ie; bone cancer being able to be put into remission by the power of the mind alone, are a bit hard to beleive, the actors, notably Wood, don't let that show through. They are entirely convincing in their performances, and that makes everything work. I loved the interaction between Barney and Cassie in the movie; it really captured the essence of two people who love eachother, but know that something else more important must be addressed, first. The last thirty minutes of the movie are the best, and Wood really shows the uncertainty in Barney. Even in the last few minutes, I didn't know what he was going to decide. To lose his past, or his future? I will not ruin it, but the ending is as good as it could be. It's a great family film, with great acting by almost all of those involved. It can be slow in some parts, but it's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Touching and heartfelt
Review: I rated this movie 4 out of 5 stars based mostly on the heart-touching quality of it. It doesn't much matter if the ending is confusing and questionable. The ending just denotes that we all have spirits who need to fly, not be immobilized by an uncurable disease. If you watch the movie closely, there are some very artistic qualities about it, such as when Elijah Wood is bouncing the ball against the wall and there is a star of light shining between him and the wall. I enjoyed the acting, except (slightly)for Jeanene Garofolo.
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