Ulee's Gold 1997

     Ulysses Jackson keeps bees on property in the Florida panhandle.  His wife died six years ago and his two granddaughters live with him.  They don’t know where their mother is and their father is in prison on a robbery charge.  Ulee hasn’t talked to his son in two years but he gets a call from him about Helen.  She is Jimmy’s wife and the mother of Casey and Penny.  Jimmy says Helen is sick and his robbery partners Ferris and Eddie picked her up.  Ulee goes to find Ferris and Eddie so he can bring Helen back with him.  She’s been taking Rohypnol also known as roofies and Ulee is the only one who really wants to help her.  Rohypnol is ten times stronger than Valium.  Connie is a nurse living across the street from Ulee and she comes over to help with Helen.

     There is a slow steady pace about this film but it is interesting and the characters are good.  Ferris and Eddie are not nice guys and later they show up at Ulee’s home.  It is because of something Helen told them about the robbery while she was on drugs.  This situation becomes tense and you don’t know how it’s going to end.  I wanted to see this film because the name Ulee is in a lot of crossword puzzles since it is an unusual word.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

113 min, Drama directed by Victor Nunez with Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, Christine Dunford, Tom Wood Jessica Biel, Vanessa Zima, Steven Flynn, Dewey Weber, J. Kenneth Campbell, Traber Burns.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 94% critic 74% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.0* out of 5* with 76 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Orlando, Apalachicola, Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka, Florida.  Peter Fonda wore the watch belonging to his father Henry Fonda during filming as a good luck charm.  Peter’s most recognized film is Easy Rider of 1968 about motorcyclists on an odyssey.