Review of Labor Day (2013) by Sol C — 02 Feb 2014

This film pleasantly took me by surprise. Jason Reitman does a great directing job here. The film reminded me of movies like The Bridges of Madison County, A Perfect World, Mud, and Stand By Me. The performances make the film worth watching.

Brolin is very good here. He has a great on screen chemistry with Kate Winslet. I could see a young Clint Eastwood play his role. Kate is great as usual. Gattlin Griffith steals the film as Henry. Tobey Maguire does a good job narrating the film. Clark Gregg, Brooke Smith, and James Van Der Beek provide nice solid supporting work here.

The negative here is the pacing, which is slow, but I didn't mind it. Also a negative was the make up done on Winslet and Brolin for a key scene at the end of the film. The make up in that scene wasn't good. Despite those negatives, I still liked the film, and I definitely recommend it.