Review of Labor Day (2013) by Manny C — 01 Mar 2014

Lord knows I have nothing against terrific actors like Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin but even they can't save my goodwill after seeing this treacly swill that is like a glorified Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Labor is right. The year is 1987 during--you guessed it--Labor Day weekend in New England where Winslet's Adele lives as a reclusive single mother yearning for love. Her passions get a wake up call when she is kidnapped by Brolin's Frank, an escaped killer, who shows her that God is in the details or some such crap. And he does this by playing ball with her 13-year-old son Hank (Gattlin Griffith) and teaching them how to make peach pie from scratch as the law creeps up on them.

All this from author Joyce Maynard, on whose 2009 book the film is based on. That this was made by Jason Reitman (he of seminal films Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in The Air and Young Adult) is even more jarring. Labor Day goes down like weak tea. It has no kick to it.