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Ulee's
Gold
directed by Victor Nunez; starring Peter Fonda
Peter
Fonda is Ulee Jackson, a Vietnam Vet, third generation
apiarist of the famous Tulepo Honey, father of jailed
Jimmy and grandfather/carer of Casey and Penny who
have been abandoned by their mother, Helen.
Ulee is struggling to bring up wayward teenage Casey
and preserve the innocence of much younger Penny while
trying to paper over their acute sense of rejection.
With deadlines and quotas to meet, Ulee works hard,
long hours producing the honey. A distress call from
Jimmy in jail changes this strong, taciturn, world-weary
man's life. He must tangle with a couple of low-life
past associates of Jimmy's and rescue his drug-addicted
daughter-in-law.
Victor Nunez manages to direct Ulee's Gold as a homage
to the resilience of family. The love in this family
is practical)no mushy, wasted words or meaningless
gestures. The stakes are very high)the cohesion of
the family is being tested.
The film's theme of family, drug addiction and crime
never veer on the melodramatic but maintain a measured,
relevant pace.
I cannot praise or recommend this film too highly.
She's
So Lovely
directed by Nick Cassavetes; starring Sean Penn, Robyn
Wright Penn and John Travolta
Despite being well acted, She's So Lovely, a film
about obsession and alcoholism, widely misses the
mark in the engrossing domain. The film opens with
a pair of barflies in an obsessive/compulsive relationship.
How much of their attraction to each other exists
without the booze is put to the test when Eddie (Sean
Penn) goes psychotic and ends up in a mental institution
for ten years. Forgetting all about Eddie, Maureen
(Robyn Wright Penn) opts for a comfortable marriage
with Joey (John Travolta) until ten years later when
Eddie leaves the institution. p> Children are involved
in this `love' triangle. A film which should have
been deep and thought-provoking manages to be superficial
due to issues being raised without being resolved
and situations needing exploring being neglected.
Regardless of the good intentions of the director,
I felt this film was made as a vehicle for the formidable
acting skills of the principals.
TV
Review
Searching For Jo Jo
Recently the ABC screened the four-part series Searching
for Jo Jo, starring Robert Carlyle, set in the
bleak Housing Commission blocks of Edinburgh. Crime
is the family occupation and the opportunity to build
a heroin empire is too good to miss. Plucky, realistic
and riveting. Watch out for the repeat run.
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