It seems as if it is a fictionalized account of one of the many children who enter spelling bees in America. But, surely with help from its notorious star Richard Gere, it is in fact a thinly disguised piece of religious propaganda.

Eliza (Flora Cross) is an intelligent 11-year-old who is constantly ignored by her lecturer father Sal (Gere) in favour of her older brother Aaron (Max Minghella). This soon ends though when he discovers she has been secretly entering spelling competitions and doing excellently. Sal than pours all of his efforts into her plight, dropping Aaron and not taking an interest in his slowly more unhinged wife Miriam (Juliette Binoche).

What isn't hinted at in the trailers for the film, or even my brief plot description is that the film's main thrust is eventually the mix of religious attitudes possessed by the family. Aaron, dismayed by his father's sudden lack of interest in him, meets an attractive Buddhist, played by Kate Bosworth. He soon finds salvation in the religion and integrates himself into its traditions.

Sal's religion is also used as a counterpoint. He is Jewish but also believes in Kabbalah, the much-maligned religion that was picked up by numerous celebrities in recent years. He tries to instruct his daughter as to how she can take part in a complicated ritual where she can be at one with some spiritual blah blah blah. The sudden shift into religion bears little relevance to the apparent thrust of the film. When the film does focus on the more traditional family drama aspects and also Eliza's rise through the various spelling rounds it is more entertaining.

Flora Cross makes a promising debut and easily outacts Gere. I've never been a big fan of his and his performance here did little to convert me. It doesn't help that his character is thinly drawn. His favouritism of his children is so superficial and badly developed he is little more than a cliché. Max Minghella, son of Anthony, again outacts the adult actors in the film and shows potential for further roles.

The most bizarre element of the film is Juliette Binoche's character. With little to do, the writers have given her the strangest character arc I can remember in a film. She has a 'secret', but I guarantee no one in the audience will guess what it is. It's laughably random and has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the film.

When the film enters the final act, the religious undertones become more apparent and in one odd effects scene take over the whole film and take out any possible ambiguity. The film as a whole has a lack of focus and is too muddled to have much resonance. In a crowded subgenre of the dysfunctional family drama, this family-based entry, despite some decent child actors and a hilarious subplot for Binoche, is hugely underwhelming.

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