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Review

Giving the performance of his career, Fonda excels in this beautifully detailed, subtle drama of a Florida beekeeper and his family. Looking very much like his dad, and bringing to the screen the same kind of idealism and sensitivity Henry cornered the market on, Peter plays Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson, a reticent widower raising his two granddaughters. When his estranged, jailed son asks him to help his wife, whose drug dependency has put her in harm's way, Ulee grudgingly disrupts the ordered routine of his unexceptional life. Getting quite more than he bargained for, Ulee becomes an unwitting patriarch and hero as he redeems himself in the eyes of his family, who are ultimately tested by circumstances slightly beyond their control. Director Nunez has written a touching, involving story which is realized with a discerning eye; but more importantly, he has given Fonda a role rich in character and nuance -- which the actor revels in.