Ulee's Gold (1997)

Good as Gold
Fonda delivers here as an understated everyman hero.
Why is Ulee the way he is? This is a believable story and not
stock at all. Fantastic supporting cast. Patricia Richardson from "Home Improvement" shows she is not a 2nd bannana.
Besides, you will gain a ton of information on the honeybee business.

Peter Fonda is excellent
Peter Fonda is superb as the bitter, we-don't-need-anybody's-help family head who raises bees in Florida for a living, and must suddenly deal with a daughter-in-law (played by Christine Dunford) strung out on drugs and a son (Tom Wood) who's in prison on robbery charges. A couple of ex-con buddies of Wood learn that he hid away a lot of the money from the robbery they committed, and they make it plain to Fonda that they want it. Fonda's got to figure out how to deal with these two ex-cons while trying to detox Dunford at home - and still get the honey collected from his beekeeping operation.

Fonda plays Ulee Jackson like a man with the DNA of a turtle: all his on-screen actions are slow and deliberate - even his incessant handling of his glasses seems to eat up much screen time. His character is supposed to be the ultimate stoic, and he plays it to the hilt. But the story is an interesting one, and the climax in the swamp is pretty exciting. The director (Victor Nunez) also insists on showing as much of the beekeeping tasks as he can get away with (some of it is so detailed it could be used in a beekeepers documentary); you will either not mind this very much or be driven crazy by it. I didn't mind it very much. Fonda is actually pretty fascinating to watch; his performance is right out of the old method school of acting (he IS Ulee and not just playing a role). The movie works and is satisfying to watch.

Peter Fonda is excellent
Peter Fonda is superb as the bitter, we-don't-need-anybody's-help family head who raises bees in Florida for a living, and must suddenly deal with a daughter-in-law (played by Christine Dunford) strung out on drugs and a son (Tom Wood) who's in prison on robbery charges. A couple of ex-con buddies of Wood learn that he hid away a lot of the money from the robbery they committed, and they make it plain to Fonda that they want it. Fonda's got to figure out how to deal with these two ex-cons while trying to detox Dunford at home - and still get the honey collected from his beekeeping operation.

Fonda plays Ulee Jackson like a man with the DNA of a turtle: all his on-screen actions are slow and deliberate - even his incessant handling of his glasses seems to eat up much screen time. His character is supposed to be the ultimate stoic, and he plays it to the hilt. But the story is an interesting one, and the climax in the swamp is pretty exciting. The director (Victor Nunez) also insists on showing as much of the beekeeping tasks as he can get away with (some of it is so detailed it could be used in a beekeepers documentary); you will either not mind this very much or be driven crazy by it. I didn't mind it very much. Fonda is actually pretty fascinating to watch; his performance is right out of the old method school of acting (he IS Ulee and not just playing a role). The movie works and is satisfying to watch.