Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel ("The Deep End") once again bring us a moving and original family drama. "Bee Season" focuses on the seemingly inevitable implosion of the perfect family. Talent, intellect and caring characterize each member of this family that lives in a beautiful home in the Oakland Hills, with a knockout view of San Francisco Bay. Saul Naumann (Richard Gere) holds a prestigious position as a religious scholar. He enjoys playing the violin with his teenage son Aaron (Max Minghella). His wife Miriam (Juliette Binoche of "Chocolate") is a lovely and gracious woman. And though a bit distant at times, she’s a good mother and she showers Saul with affection. Their younger daughter Eliza (Flora Cross) is a quiet, studious girl. Life is good.

Saul’s familial alliance seems to shift from Aaron to Eliza when Eliza becomes a local spelling bee champion. As she prepares to move on to the state finals, Saul spends all his free time coaching her. Aaron’s attention turns to a beautiful young woman named Chali (Kate Bosworth). Pulling Aaron away from the family is the yin of a father who is now focused on his sister Eliza’s intellectual talents, and the yang of a hot first romance.

With the balance in the family out of sync, Miriam’s unexplained late nights suggest that she’s having an affair. The flashbacks she experiences from her childhood, when her parents were killed in an automobile accident, are clues that something much deeper is going on.

Saul sees a spark in his daughter’s creative and deeply thoughtful approach to putting letters together to form words, even those she’s unfamiliar with, which leads him to encourage her to study the Kaballah. He is an expert on this mystical Judaic tradition, and he warns her that he will closely supervise her study. As Eliza marches through the regional and state contests to reach the nationals, she begins to ponder the good and bad of her success, while she witnesses the disintegration of her family.

Tying everything together is the pursuit of meaningful, fulfilling spirituality as experienced by each individual in this small unit as they incorporate it into their daily lives. Whether Judaism, the Hare Krishna movement, or an overview of all perspectives, the practicality and the mysticism with which we see our world is in play here. Very provocative is the linkage of feelings from childhood to the manifestation of a troubled adult trying to bring the pieces of a shattered life together that Miriam struggles with. Fascinating too are the coming of age decisions that are made by Aaron and Eliza. The film does a fine job of not being too heady on religion while showing that spirituality can come from places you’d least expect.