Review of Labor Day (2013) by Nick D — 29 Dec 2013

"Spielberg ending" is what I said to my companion as the credits were rolling, meaning, an upbeat positive coda tacked on to make sure everyone leaves feeling good. This one made sense, and clearly the audience was rooting for the improbable relationship to succeed against all odds, but my impulse to spot Reitman's debt to the Great Middlebrow Master holds, I think.

Not only because of the obvious homage items -- ET poster on the kid's wall, the credits of Close Encounter running on the TV set in the background. No, mostly because this is the story of a kid whose dad leaves, who tries to make things work with a single depressed parent.

Enter the tall dark stranger, Brolin, an escaped convict whose crimes seem less threatening than his charm. We're taken on a long weekend of deepening feeling, most emblematic being, of course, the scene when the three make a Labor Day peach pie together.

The producers gave us pie plates at the limited run I attended, in case you missed the point. The behavior of grown-ups has disproportionate impact upon the kids, as we see in this decidedly grown-up romance movie.