Ulee's Gold

Peter Fonda has a unique style. But it's never the same as watching his Dad, who had a way like no other with understated acting. Peter's doing the same thing, it just comes across as slightly wooden. Direction of this film seems to be mirroring that style. While it's an engaging, realistic story (Fonda plays a Florida beekeeper with many family problems to solve), it's just stilted enough not to be completely natural. Still, the simpleness of the story is its saving grace. It rolls out slowly and surely and has a sweet, slow, well-thought-out ending. And it's true that Fonda is playing a tight-lipped, seemingly non- caring man, which is his brand of typecasting, and in that he excels even if it's not my favorite acting method. The film simply doesn't have that spark that makes it a really great tale. So, what am I saying? It's average, not bad, not good, I wouldn't go out of my way to rent it, but if there's nothing else, it's a good enough film for a lazy summer evening. (Stick around for the credits. Best Van Morrison song ever.)

year: 1997
length: 113 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120402/combined

Upstairs, Downstairs

I can safely assume that the rest of this series will be as promising as the part that I've seen to date (almost half). Granted, there is one major character change which seems hastily arranged but, in toto, this is one of the more thoroughly enjoyable BBC series ever produced (and yes, The Forsyte Saga takes a second seat to this one). Set in Victorian England, it is the story of the gentry, their downstairs servants, and how their lives intertwine and remain separate at the same time. If nothing else, you learn the mores and ideas of the time (e.g., feminism, divorce, that pesky merchant class). For instance, in one episode the lady of the house must let a servant go who is too old to perform her duties anymore. How she told her was something I'll always remember. Even though the language of that time may sound like everyone is walking on eggshells all the time, there are take-away lessons for our times. In this case, the lesson is that there is always a kind way to do a normally repulsive task. The acting is uniformly perfect, with everyone inhabiting their characters to a T. In fact, I saw Gordon Jackson in another production at some point and found him not at all believable, not due to his acting skills but to the fact that he was the butler on this series, and in my mind, will always be the butler.

year: 1971-1975
length: 68 50-min. episodes
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066722/combined