Labor Day (2013)

Kate Winslet has retreated into seclusion and inner turmoil ever since her divorce from Clark Gregg. She lives with her young son Gattlin Griffith, leaving the house as infrequently as possible and sometimes letting her depression get the better of her, forcing Gattlin to step up and act as the man of the house. On one such excursion to the store on Labor Day weekend, Josh Brolin approaches them. He's bleeding, limping, in trouble, and asks for a ride. The scared, shy Kate agrees and takes him to her house. They soon find out Josh is an escaped convict, but while he holds them hostage, he's unexpectedly kind and brings life back to the house.I absolutely love this movie. From the opening scene, director Jason Reitman sets the pace and environment beautifully for the audience. He gives the film a loving touch, and since Kate and Josh both give the best performances of their careers, I'm sure Reitman gave his actors fantastic direction. He also wrote the screenplay; I've read the book, and Reitman greatly improved Joyce Maynard's original novel.To say I don't usually like Kate Winslet would be the understatement of the year. She's fantastic in Labor Day, as is Josh Brolin. I don't know why they both weren't nominated for Oscars for their thoughtful, multi-layered performances. Hopefully Gattlin Griffith will have a career boost after this film, since it's a treasured commodity to find a child star who can actually act. J.K. Simmons, Brooke Smith, Tobey Maguire, and James Van Der Beek have small but memorable roles in the film, more proof that the Jason Reitman gave everyone fantastic direction.This film has become a staple in my house, one we watch every year in September, and sometimes on Valentine's Day as well. It's romantic, poignant, dramatic, suspenseful, and touching. Bring your Kleenexes and get ready for an unforgettable film this Labor Day weekend.

A single mom Adele (Winslet) with son Henry are forced to harbor a fugitive Frank (Brolin) at theirown home. An unexpected relationship develops among the three. A beautiful story with a great cast including the super talented Gattlin Griffith as Henry. A very sensual, delicate, and rather natural direction on the hands of Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno). Jason scripted this movie based on the novel by Joyce Maynard. Jason did a terrific job in interpreting Adele's yearning for male attention and care, in brief a man around the house in every aspect, especially in the scene where Frank wraps his arm around her waist and when we see her face turning towards him, I and I am sure a lot of the audience expected a kiss but what do you know…Winslet beautifully and vulnerably lays her face on his shoulder….. absolutely mesmerizing!Another scene stands out for me how Reitman plays down and tones down the sexual relationship between Frank and Adele by suggestive scenes for example, when Henry does not find Frank on the couch where he was usually sleeps but hears him in his mom's bedroom and another scene where he opens the bathroom door to find her brushing her teeth with her under gown on with Frank there with her, but then in the movie's most vulnerable scene, we just get a single passionate kiss between Frank and Adele. I loved the use of sunlight throughout the movie right about when Frank arrives at Adel and Henry's house and starts affecting and impacting their lives, which to me is rather symbolic for light of hope that is shed on them, a second chance for a normal and loving family life, for them and for Frank as well, clearly evident in the final scenes when upon telling him about her problematic pregnancy life , she tells him:" I can't give you a family.", he replies: " you have". I loved the clash of two unfortunate characters who lost love and regained it under the most unfortunate circumstances and their love conquered and endured all times and survived. You got to give praise to how Reitman in script and direction, sprinkled more than four dramatic tension points that could result in the capture of Frank, Henry's rebel girlfriend, Henry's letter to his Dad and mentioning at dinner that there is a man around his house, Bary the mentally handicapped kid who visits them and meets Frank, but the wow factor, is how all these did not play any part in Frank's final capture. Turning my attention to the script and as much as I loved it, a few things bothered me and caughtmy attention as weak and incredible as far as plot and characterization. Starting with Bary's visit and Frank's okay with that, how could a character like Frank who was cold and cautious from the beginning in order to protect himself, let a mentally retarded kid see him? What did he think it was okay? What was he going to say? He turned out rather shouting his name, how contradictory is that? Add to that, Reitman making Bary conveniently watch the news broadcast where for maybe the 20th time they show Frank's young prison pic and for the first time in the movie, they put an adult pic of him next to it, come on how convenient and corny is that? Also keeping with Frank's character motif , why would someone like him on the day he was all alone in the house and knowing from before that Adele's neighbors and friends barge in and pop in unexpectedly not to mention rudely like Bary's mom, and while standing conveniently in direct vision of anyone coming through the main door, leave it unlocked??? Hehe.. Of all the days they could have gathered their stuff and escape to Canada, they picked Henry's first day of school to do it, and where everybody in the movie made a point of it, that's just silly…. Obviously it was added to create dramatic tension and suspense but to a weak effect and result. I will end my comments with the corny ending of the movie, we understand that Frank takes a lot of thecredit for the fine upbringing and how a fine man Henry turned out to be, but it was rather commercialand clichéd for Reitman to actually show us Henry doing exactly the same things Frank taught him, changing a tire while with his girlfriend, cooking and baking a pie for his mom, playing baseball etc… and the corniest of them all, Henry becoming a pie chef and opening a famous restaurant, that ending was just too hollywoody and I imagine every scene that comes after Frank's second arrest is rather made for commercial box office reasons, come on …would you rather have this ending or just maybe see Henry cooking for his mom, and being with his girlfriend? I know your pick.

There is so much wrong with this movie that it's hard to know where to start.Let's begin with the plot. Frank, an escaped convict, takes a single mother, Adele, and her son, Henry, hostage. Over the course of a few days, Adele falls in love with Frank and Henry latches on to him as a father-figure. This sort of thing is not unheard of (Stockholm Syndrome, anyone?) but within a day? After taking them hostage, less than 24 hours later they're begging him not to leave! Setting aside the fact that Frank is played by Josh Brolin (this is a movie after all) he threatened Henry and tied Adele up for the night. We're supposed to believe that they're not still terrified of him at this point? Again, this takes me back to the time factor. Everything that happens in this movie is entirely plausible given enough time. I could easily see this kind of bond taking place over a month or so. The movie tries to gloss this over by making Frank into a fantasy man. He cooks! He cleans! He fixes things! Frank throws a baseball with Henry! Frank rubs Adele's shoulders! Frank is interested in everything Adele says! Frank dances! (Now you see why I titled this review "Mommy Porn".)This brings me to my next point: plausibility. Escaped Convict/Hearthrob/Fantasy Man Frank (I'm sure there's lots of those running around) spends a lot of time working around the house in broad daylight. The movie establishes early on that Adele is very depressed and rarely leaves the house. Now a strange man shows up out of nowhere and parades around in full view of the neighbors at the same time an escaped convict is on the loose. Given how nosy the entire town seems to be (neighbors dropping by, the bank questioning withdrawals, the grocery story clerk commenting on items purchased), nobody notices Frank? I thought maybe he was fixing things ninja-style but there's a scene where he teaches Henry how to change a tire on a car that's parked in the driveway. Not exactly keeping a low profile.Just so this isn't completely negative let me say this. I'm a big fan of Kate Winslet. I think Josh Brolin is a good actor. I've enjoyed Jason Reitman's previous movies. This movie is well-made. The performances (most of them) are very good. If this was the plot of a romance novel, I would chuckle at the silliness of it all and move on. This movie ranks up there (or down there) with Twilight and 50 Shades. If your idea of romance is a 100+ year old vampire finding his true love in an underage high-school girl or a rich guy spanking his secretary, then Labor Day is right up your alley. For the rest of us, this movie is a horrible mess.

Sometimes you go to the movies and it is great drama--maybe Citizen Kane, A Streetcar Named Desire, or Raging Bull. Other times, it is not drama of any quality, but you still enjoy yourself, perhaps immensely--say Airplane, Godzilla vs Mothra, or Rocky III.Fundamentally, Labor Day is a chick flick of the second category. Josh Brolin plays Frank, a man on the run for double murder who escaped prison by jumping from a second floor window. Limping into a K-Mart, he is spying single mom Adele (Kate Winslet) someone who he thinks he can talk into helping him. Adele's 13-year-old son Henry starts chatting with Frank, and seems to think it would be okay to offer this man bleeding in a K-mart a ride to... somewhere.Let me stop here. This movie is already off the rails. There is NO CHANCE this would ever happen, and yet... time for Godzilla!! We suspend our disbelief, and it gets better. They take Frank home and he starts doing household chores while hiding out from the police-- landscapes the yard, changes the oil in the car, even bakes a peach pie. He turns out to be a great guy, and the lonely, tormented Adele falls for him, offering her a chance for love again.At this point, you would think it would be lights out, but--yo! Adrian!--something about this movie keeps you around. The actors are good, really good, and they play it with as much conviction as if they were doing Hamlet (well, maybe not quite that much). The characters emerge, and you can sympathize with them, root for them and believe in them. You might even start to think that love might cause something this implausible, since, after all, we all have our own stories. It is both half-baked and absorbing.Critical response has been hot and cold--easy to understand given the contradictions. Winslet, Brolin and Griffith are convincing, no matter how ridiculous their plot. It's Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr all over again, a chick-flick Bonnie and Clyde.