Ulee's Gold (1997)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Victor Nunez

Writer:

Victor Nunez (written by)

Release Date:

13 June 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of a family on the edge, and a man who brought them back.

Plot:

A reclusive beekeeper slowly pulls his dysfunctional family back together, but not without having to fight his son's previous dastardly cohorts.

Plot Keywords:

Tied To Chair | Gagged And Bound | Drug Withdrawl | Bee | Beehive

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Peter Fonda	...	Ulee Jackson
Patricia Richardson	...	Connie Hope
Christine Dunford	...	Helen Jackson
Tom Wood	...	Jimmy Jackson
Jessica Biel	...	Casey Jackson
Vanessa Zima	...	Penny Jackson
Steven Flynn	...	Eddie Flowers
Dewey Weber	...	Ferris Dooley
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	Sheriff Bill Floyd
Traber Burns	...	Chance Barrow
Ryan Marshall	...	Charley Myers
Chad Fish	...	Markie
Will Sexton	...	Child at Rest Stop
Dale C. Marshall	...	Beekeeper Assistant
James T. Whitehurst	...	Beekeeper Assistant

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Apalachicola, Florida, USA

Company:

Clinica Estetico

Trivia:

This was Jessica Biel's film debut.

Quotes:

Connie Hope: Me, I'm divorced twice. No kids, fortunately. I guess, fortunately.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Brothers Solomon (2007)

Soundtrack:

Persinthia, Lawdro, and John

powerful story of family reclamation

Surely one of the best human dramas of the last few years, Peter Fonda is great as Ulee Jackson, a deeply wounded but incredibly strong man who by sheer strength of will reaches out to drag back together a shattered family. His performance is a masterpiece of understatement; we can almost physically sense the roiling depths of anger and resentment that lie below his cold, almost imperturbable exterior. The crime subplot never takes precedence over the gripping family drama that is the movie's core. It is wonderful to see the various characters gradually becoming re-integrated into a functioning family; i.e. the daughter's appearing late at night in the work area to help Ulee, whose restrictions up to then she has mightily resented, with his backbreaking work.

Few have commented on the double entendre of the movie's title. Ulee's "Gold" is, on its surface, the honey he works to produce. It is clear, at the film's conclusion, that the "Gold" is, in actuality, the family he has brought together again. (I suppose we could have a triple entendre in that it might also refer to the long-lost money that is at the crime subplot's core).