Ulee's Gold (1997)

This American indie, indubitably director/writer Victor Nunez's most well-known work, has hitherto earned Peter Fonda his sole acting Oscar nomination. Ulee Jackson (Fonda) is a widowed beekeeper in an unnamed town in Florida, who raises his two granddaughters Casey (Biel in her film debut) and Penny (Zima, a precocious heart-melting angel) all by himself because his son Jimmy (Wood) is serving time in jail and his daughter-in-law Helen (Dunford) is a congenital drug addict who takes flight in another town. It is difficult for a man like Ulee to raise two young girls, the elder Casey is in her rebellious pubescence and the younger Penny is perceptibly despondent in the humdrum days, only the arrival of a new neighbor Connie Hope (Richardson), a childless, twice-divorced nurse, proffers Penny some excitement, but Ulee remains courteous but distant. The season of tupelo is coming, which for beekeepers, it is the golden time of the year to produce the indigenous high-caliber tupelo honey, but Ulee's life has been dragged into a flurry of hapless incidents, after taking back an unconscious and drug-addled Helen from Eddie (Flynn) and Ferris (Weber), two wretches and former associates of Jimmy, he is browbeaten by them to find a hidden stash of cash whose where-about only Jimmy knows. Thanks to the professional succor from Connie, the family manage to help Helen go through her withdrawal and a gentle mutual affection burgeons between Ulee and Connie, meanwhile, Casey and Penny both lend a helping hand in the honey business, and finally, facing up the menacing Eddie and Ferris, Ulee must save his family once and for all from the past contraventions. On the one hand, ULEE'S GOLD is a genuine lover letter to apiculture, Nunez modulates a minute and patient angle to show audience its stock-in-trade, and Fonda is greatly hands-on in every step, often alone in the woods, ploughs on with adroitness and dedication, never belies that he is play- acting; on the other hand, what quietly distills through the happenings, sometimes raucous (Helen's detox process), sometimes dramatic (visiting Jimmy in the prison, is he an ingrate or a prodigal son?), sometimes threatening (the murky suspense in fetching the cash under duress), is a lone wolf who is perspicacious and mettlesome in wrestling with the downside of his life, and a patriarch figure who is given an opportunity to single-handedly re-direct his son's family back to the right orbit, plus a second chance in his love life too. Thus, the resultant outcome is a slow-built but absorbing yarn tampered with a tinge of complacency. Still, Mr. Fonda's performance is the chief takeaway, a reclusive macho paterfamilias who, nevertheless, conceals a tender heart underneath, is a character too make-believe to be authentic, but we are so caught up in his attempt to clear off all the obstacles and ultimately, as contrived as the story ends, we are not attacked by the usual bathetic aftertaste, which all owes to Fonda's upright, unfeigned and taciturnly riveting presentation of an ordinary hero is bent on doing the right thing.

I have seen this movie many times, and it gets better each time. The scene when a hive is destroyed and Ulee recovers it is the scene that exposes the parallel themes of the film: keeping his family together, and the bees producing (credited in the end titles). The story has incredible tension, but the film seems almost relaxed; no dramatic music, no fast camera action, but a calm sense of reality. This feeling is accentuated by the beautiful photography. The natural lighting in the grocery store parking lot, and the slightly out-of-focus shot of nurse Hope at the truck with groceries are two shots that just knock me out. The last scene at the prison chokes me up even thinking about it. But with all the pain and trouble, the reward is---honey, Tupelo honey.

The title of the film "Ulee's Gold" does not inspire most movie-goers to run to their local theaters. As a skeptic, I gave the film a chance on a rainy Thursday evening & what a pleasant surprise. Those of us who enjoy superb acting, a good storyline & script, and a capable leading man are in for a treat. Standoffish, reclusive, & heartbroken beekeeper Ulee Jackson lives a simple life caring for his grandchildren in Florida. But the simple life is not without challenges. Ulee is forced to face his jailed son's crime & cohorts, a daughter-in-law on drugs, raising girls coming of age, & a new neighbor with a big heart. Through it all, Ulee keeps a stiff upper lip & a strong familial presence in order to right the wrongs & keep his simple life whole. Peter Fonda outdoes himself in the title role & gives you reason to believe in Ulee's fortitude. Jessica Biel & Patricia Richardson are more than capable in their respective supporting roles. If you get a chance, give "Ulee's Gold" a gander. You won't be disappointed. Platinum,....simply platinum.

Ulee (Peter Fonda) is a beekeeper who produces some of the finest honey available, Tupelo Gold.While there is some very interesting material on beekeeping, this is essentially a good story about a somewhat dysfunctional family. Ulee is a widower raising his two granddaughters on his own while his son is in prison and his daughter-in-law has run off.The cast includes Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement) as a Nurse that lives next door and a potential love interest for Ulee. While Ulee's eldest daughter is played by Jessica Biel in one of her first film roles , I really appreciated the depiction of a character acting heroically in the face of adversity without resorting to the violence that is so common in many Hollywood pictures.The film was written, directed, edited and shot by Victor Nunez on a very limited budget, but I did not find any such limitations at all obvious in the execution.Features an Oscar nominated performance from Peter Fonda, who won numerous awards for the role including a Golden Globe.