Based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, Labor Day is a moving drama from Jason Reitman.

Told as an extended flashback, the film is a mixture of coming-of-age drama and mature romance. Darker and more melodramatic than his previous work, Reitman captures the sweaty claustrophobia of the family home and creates moments of incredible tension as the police hunt for Frank.

However, the reliance on stereotypical devices for revealing Frank’s potential as a husband/father is at times cringe-worthy, and despite some well-constructed sequences the film rarely offers the same wit and invention as we’ve seen in Reitman’s other films.

Labor Day is still a solid, emotive and absorbing drama, albeit one that is ultimately unremarkable.

Rating: 3/5

 

INFORMATION

CAST: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Clark Gregg

DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman

WRITER: Jason Reitman

SYNOPSIS: After a traumatic end to her marriage, reclusive Adele relies on her teenage son Henry for care. However, when the pair shelters a wounded, escaped convict, Frank, over a fateful Labor Day weekend their lives are changed forever.