Many movies pull the viewer through an interesting and maybe even thought-provoking story. However, it is the rare movie that also captivates one's heart and leaves the viewer tired and drained because of the sheer magnitude of its emotional strength.
"Ulee's Gold" -- playing Sunday at the Hop -- succeeds in the first category, but unfortunately fails in this latter test. Best Actor nominee Peter Fonda just cannot succeed in carrying this drama and its classic story-line onto the list of last year's truly incredible movies like "As Good As It Gets" and "Titanic."
"Ulee's Gold" is too stereotypical to be mentally magnetizing and just too plain bland to be emotionally grabbing. "Ulee's Gold" is good -- it is solid and it is entertaining, but it is not captivating.
Fonda plays Ulee Jackson, a stoic yet compassionate beekeeper who is raising his two granddaughters after his son Jimmy was sent to prison for robbery and his daughter-in-law Helen abandoned the family.
Ulee is an Atticus Finch-like character without the charm. He was spiritually wounded from his experiences in Vietnam and the death of his wife. You can tell he loves his family and his work, but never, even at the end of the long tale, does he openly reveal his warmth to the viewer.
Ulee enters into trouble when his son's former cohorts find an overdosed Helen and notify the family that she needs help. Jimmy convinces Ulee to retrieve his wife and Ulee reluctantly agrees.
Jimmy's partners, however, had additional plans and used Ulee's visit to demand the loot that Helen, in her drugged state, revealed Jimmy still had.
Ulee handles the situation like he handles his bees, calmly and courageously. We never see Ulee sweat or fidget, smile or cry.
It is this lack of emotion that prevents the viewer from sweating or crying or smiling. Why should we need Kleenex when the lead character barely even blinks?
This film contains many absurdly stereotypical characters like the punky teenage granddaughter Casey, with her multi-colored hair, ripped clothes and derelict boyfriend, or the villains, Eddy and Ferris, who are as classic as their names. One is smart but a coward, the other stupid but strong.
Directed by Victor Nunez ("Ruby in Paradise"), who is known for bringing quiet, emotional moments to life, "Ulee's Gold" surprisingly progresses in a jerky fashion. Smooth transitions just don't exist here. In one scene Casey looks and acts like a character from "Grease," but changes in the very next scene to a pony-tailed and flannel wearing teen worthy of any good Disney film.
In one scene we see Ulee threatened with a gun and told to recover the hidden loot "or else," but then we never hear of it again for half an hour, while we see Ulee proceed with his care of Helen and the bees like nothing has affected his existence.
If there is one aspect of this film which threatened to bring out the emotion both in the on-screen characters and in its viewers, it is the relationship of Ulee and his next door neighbor, Connie Hope, played by "Home Improvement" star Patricia Richardson.
Connie is a young nurse who comes to help the Jacksons with their care of Helen, despite the objections of Ulee, who dislikes asking outsiders for help.
The interactions between these two are the only ones which seem genuinely real. And at times it seems like Connie might even be able to pull out some power from the star who seemed content to stick with Bob Dole in the charisma department.
Despite these shortcomings, "Ulee's Gold" is a good, solid and quality movie. It's story-line is interesting and its bee country backdrop is quite beautiful and serene. It is like that novel which one reads and enjoys but would never think about or pick up again.
Before watching the film I had a desire to be grabbed, shaken and tossed around by what would seem to be an emotionally gripping plot. I emerged two hours later entertained, but not moved.
