A sharp change of pace – and mood, and style – defines Jason Reitman’s fifth film, Labor Day. Where Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult trumpet their flirtations with the dark and daring, and champion their impudence and irreverence, Labor Day vibrates at a slower, quieter tenor. Here, the writer/director dwells in empathy, not audacity. Emotions are grand, gradual and graceful; scenes are slow, sleepy and simmering. There’s nary a witty barb or caustic exchange evident.
Yet this is the still the same Reitman who possesses the knack for turning the unlikeable into the accessible – the same helmer who cultivates stellar performances from his previous four lead actors. Adapting Joyce Maynard’s 2009 novel of the same name, Reitman applies his trademarks to a new forum with an almost persistent, provocative sense of difference. In a coming-of-age tale of the lonely and the lambasted, the comedic becomes the romantic. Cultural references morph into period insularity, but his keen eye for the struggling and striving remains.
The American holiday which aspires to celebrate the efforts of workers – and signal the end of the portion of the calendar in which wearing white is allowable – provides the film’s temporal setting as well as its title. The year is 1987, and the Wheeler family is fragmented. Adele (Kate Winslet, Contagion) is crippled by the heartbreak that sees her husband (Clark Gregg, Much Ado About Nothing) leave for a new life and wife, while 13-year-old Henry (Gattlin Griffin, Green Lantern) can only watch on. During a rare trip out of the house, Adele and Henry stray into the path of Frank (Josh Brolin, Old Boy), an escaped prisoner on the run. Frank muscles his way into a place to hide, but soon finds himself a not-so-unwelcome guest as his hosts’ initial reluctance turns into something more.
At its core, Labor Day offers a straightforward narrative steeped in the transformation of three characters: the journey from aggrieved to accepting, from sheltered to strong, and from persecuted to purposeful. The machinations are easy, the essaying of desire always apparent, and the execution masterful; for all its obviousness, pulp leanings and maudlin tendencies, the sentiment and sensitivity is palpable. Some scenes – the steamy making of a peach pie, for example – bubble on too long, yet they also underscore an environment ripe with fantasy and abundant with mess and chaos. Though the details verge upon boilerplate, the drama teems with nuance; characters may be archetypes, but their interactions are disarming and delicate.
Credit, of course, goes to the talented cast as much as the expectation-breaking filmmaker: the former committed and convincing, the latter using every aesthetic touch to further nurture the feature’s emotional atmosphere. Winslet plays fracture with aplomb; however, it is Brolin who best impresses, perfecting the line between threat and saviour. Under Reitman’s guidance, Eric Steelberg’s (Going the Distance) sashaying camera movements and Rolfe Kent’s (Mr. Popper’s Penguins) tense but tender score not only conjure an imaginary world but also earn an expressive response. The end result can be easily dismissed as heartfelt histrionics, yet it never fails to ring true. In straying from the helmer’s type and staying simple, Labor Day turns the bittersweet into glimpses of blossoming beauty.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5Labor Day
Director: Jason Reitman
USA, 2013, 111 mins
Release date: February 6
Distributor: Paramount
Rated: M
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