Much like the recent Jason Bateman movie Bad Words, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee concerns itself with the competitors in the titular spell-off. Unlike its more cinematic counterpart, the stage musical develops it’s characters in a believable fashion, giving the event stakes that matter for everyone involved. Bad Words was not a bad movie, but the screenwriter would have done well to take a few more cues from Spelling Bee.
Steven Cohen's 365 Days of Reviews 