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100 MINUTES | [BOSTON COMMON + FENWAY + FRESH POND + CIRCLE/CHESTNUT HILL + SUBURBS] According to the mystic Jewish principle of "tikkun olam," Saul Naumann (Richard Gere) explains to his Berkeley class, the duty of human beings is to gather together the broken pieces of divinity scattered in the world. As this tepid adaptation of Myla Goldberg’s profound novel demonstrates, it’s no good putting together God if your family falls apart. The Naumann family is looking for holiness in all the wrong places. Teenage son Aaron (Max Minghella) has taken a shine to the Hare Krishnas. Dad has grown obsessed with teaching his daughter Eliza (Flora Cross) the Kabbalah so she can attain enlightenment and/or win the National Spelling Bee. And who knows what mom (Juliette Binoche) is doing out late at night? Only Eliza seems on the right path, to judge from such silly special effects as sprouting flowers and letters that bloom whenever she homes in on a word. Newcomer Cross almost convinces as one initiated, but Bee Season is a few pieces short of a worthy film.
BY PETER KEOUGH
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