Ugly Betty has the exact same plot (including must-be-from-the-same-source-material stuff about how the perfectly routine magazine process called "Run of Book" has special fashion-industry quirks and at least one identical "Are you the 'Before'?" joke), is funnier, and (with the exception of Meryl Streep, who's fantastic) is better cast. (They sneer at Anne Hathaway as fat? Possibly true, but America Ferrera is actually built like a real person.)
Akeelah and the Bee is not just the same-old triumph-over-economic-adversity story, it's a particularly cliched version of it. I think there were actually three sports-training montages. Everyone, including the unspecified-felonies neighborhood thug, is behind her. The antagonist turns out to be Not So Bad After All. And the outcome of the final competition is a cop-out that will displease the story-telling sensibilities of anyone over 12. Same topic, more drama, vastly more interesting characters: Spellbound.