Ulee's Gold
MGM Home Entertainment | Release Date: June 6, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Ulee's Gold is a story of redemption, and Nunez doesn't make redemption look any easier than it is. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Ulee's Gold stands out for its sureness, its quiet emotional force and writer-director Victor Nunez's ability to find and nurture the mystery and power in the events of an ordinary life. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Beautiful and heartfelt, an oasis of humanity in a season of furious hyperbole. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Though it occasionally wears its metaphors on its sleeve, Ulee's Gold should, if there's any justice, find the same thoughtful-drama-hungry audience that made "Sling Blade" a hit. Read full review
90
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Nunez finds a striking lyricism in simple lives that inspires an uncommonly fine cast and ranks him as a world-class filmmaker. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
Fonda brings all of his childhood frustration and angst to the screen in one of the year's most unexpectedly brilliant acting performances. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Nunez has a gift for finding the essence, the soul, of his actors. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
An emotionally honest low-ebber that builds to a satisfying wrap-up. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The highest compliment I can offer Ulee's Gold is that it plays more like real life than a movie. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Nunez is a master at rendering emotionally complex, ordinary folk into the kind of unassuming heroes that don't much appear in American films anymore. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Ulee's Gold possesses an attribute that's increasingly rare in American filmmaking, independent or Hollywood: call it soul. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The film becomes a modest delight. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Leisurely pacing of this kind is likely to register as a form of respect for the viewer's intelligence and observation. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Peter Fonda's the bee's knees in the performance of his career. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
Nunez's style is quiet, simple and deliberate, but the film never drags. Read full review
70
Film.comTom Keogh
A very pleasant experience in watching life unfold in its own direction and time.
70
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Still, flaws and all, we have to be grateful to Nunez for persisting in his independence. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
Nunez's movies go places, but with no acceleration. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Nunez achieves a rare, and rarely earned, emotional depth that rewards the moderate demands he makes on contemporary viewers' short attention spans. Read full review
60
New Times (L.A.)Michael Sragow
Nunez's direction is as self-consciously homey as a floral welcome mat. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The power of an otherwise carefully crafted film is undone by risky and not altogether successful casting. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Worthy but dull. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Schickel
Nunez's film neither floats like a butterfly nor stings like a bee. It just drones on. Read full review
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